Legacy
by Bill K
Summary: A search for Palla-Palla's mother leads Neo-Sailor Moon and the Asteroid Senshi in some grave and startling directions.
1. Broken Hearts

LEGACY

Chapter 1: "Broken Hearts"

A Neo-Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

Sailor Moon and all related characters are (c)2008 by Naoko Takeuchi/Kodansha and Toei Animation and are used without permission, but with respect. Story is (c)2008 by Bill K.

* * *

It wasn't often that Hotaru Tomoe went shopping with her friend and fellow senshi, Cere-Cere. Usually she went shopping with Usa, the Princess Usagi. She was close to Usa and could more easily confide things to her than her other friends. Usa was more understanding of Hotaru's background, having spent time with her in the twentieth century, and was familiar with Hotaru's old family situation. There was a closeness to Usa that Hotaru didn't have with anyone else, except perhaps her boyfriend Yutaka.

And Cere-Cere's tastes in everything were just so - - loud. Watching Cere-Cere try outfits or jewelry on herself made Hotaru uncomfortable and self-conscious of everyone around her.

But Usa wasn't in the mood for shopping. Recently she wasn't in the mood for anything except finding some way to see, touch, speak, dream or otherwise communicate with Helios. And Hotaru needed to shop for new shoes. She would have gone alone, but Cere-Cere volunteered, because she loved shopping and because it got her away from the attempts of Ves-Ves to annoy her. However, as they went along from store to store, Hotaru noticed that Cere-Cere was trying too hard to be her usual vivacious, material self. It seemed, to the dark-haired waif, that the longer they went, the harder it seemed that Cere-Cere was trying to seem normal. When they finally landed in a restaurant for some ice cream and a little lunch, it became too much for even the normally reticent teen.

"Is something wrong?" Hotaru inquired.

"What makes you say that?" Cere-Cere asked - - too quickly - - before her eyes dived to her fudge sundae.

"If it's none of my business, just tell me. I won't be offended. It's just that you seem like you're trying to be normal instead of just being normal."

Cere-Cere just stared at the sundae.

"Forget I asked," Hotaru offered.

"You know it's fall," her friend said. The overhead lighting glistened as it reflected off of the stylized magenta hair she wore.

Hotaru cursed herself for even bringing it up. Cere-Cere's relationship with Gallan had become commonplace to Hotaru by now. But it was still a unique relationship between a teenage girl and a thousand year old tree spirit. And for six months, starting in late October, the tree spirit Gallan went into hibernation and Cere-Cere always grew morose. This would be the second fall since their pairing.

"I'm sorry," Hotaru said. "I completely forgot. How soon until Gallan goes into hibernation?"

But Cere-Cere shook her head.

"No, it's not that," she admitted. "I'm not sad about him going into hibernation." She gritted her pearly teeth. "I'm kind of glad. Hotaru," and she paused, wondering if she dared to say more. Hotaru bent in closer. "I don't know if I love him anymore."

"What?"

"I've been going through the motions for months. I thought it was just his being absent, and then the trouble with the Zacharians. I thought I'd start feeling the same way about him again. But I don't. Is it possible to stop loving someone?"

"Did he do something?" Hotaru asked.

"No!" Cere-Cere almost sobbed. "He's the same kind, gentle, loving spirit he's always been. It must be me. I must have changed somehow. The last few weeks have been Hell. I don't want to be with him anymore, but I don't have the guts to tell him. It would hurt him so bad." Her hand went up to her eyes to wipe bubbling tears. "Oh, I can't believe I'm this shallow!"

"You're not shallow," Hotaru told her. "Cere, people change."

"But," Cere-Cere stammered, "but I thought love was supposed to be forever. How can it be that I can be hopelessly in love with someone and then, one day out of the blue, I'm not?"

"Obviously this has been building. It doesn't happen in a day."

"And if - - if I can do that to someone I owe my life to," Cere-Cere began, a spark of terror in her eyes, "it can happen to me. What if one day Jun decides she doesn't want to be my sister anymore? Or Palla-Palla? Or - - someone else?"

"Cere," Hotaru began.

"Hotaru, what if I wake up one day and I'm alone?" Cere-Cere asked. She turned away in embarrassment. "What's the use of being on the planet if nobody notices?"

"I'll notice," Hotaru whispered. Cere-Cere turned to her, slightly. "As long as I'm here, you'll have one friend. Two, if you count Usa. She'll never stop being your friend. And your sisters are going to be your sisters forever. You four have been through too much."

A shy smile sprouted on Cere-Cere's face. "Yeah," she whispered. "Kind of went off the deep end a little, didn't I? Sorry. It's just - - I don't know what to do."

"Are you sure you don't love him anymore?"

"Yeah. Maybe I never did. Maybe I was just mistaking lust and gratitude for love. He is still cute." As she spoke, Cere-Cere dabbed at her melting sundae with her spoon. "I'd really like to still be his friend. I just don't know if I can if I hurt him."

"You can't keep seeing him if you don't want to," Hotaru told her with as much conviction as her innate shyness allowed. "It's not fair to you. If you're gentle and honest about it, maybe he'll understand."

Cere-Cere blew out a huge sigh. "Maybe I could go back to Brasilia and become a nun."

Hotaru looked on sympathetically. But she remained silent because she was out of advice.

* * *

"Your Mom's at the door," chimed the environmental control computer to the room's lone occupant. The computer spoke, as it had been reprogrammed by the room's occupant, in an approximation of Hotaru's voice. Usa, laying on her bed, blew at her pink bangs.

Of course, the computer was programmed to allow the King and Queen entry without permission if one or both overrode the security system. But Usa knew her mother wouldn't do that unless the computer reported some physical distress. She might start pleading, though, and Usa didn't want to go through that.

"Come on in, Mom," the girl replied with little relish.

The door whizzed open and Queen Serenity stepped in. The teen glanced at her and didn't notice that the woman still looked as young and radiant as she did when she first ascended to the throne of Japan back in 2015. After all, to the young Princess, she'd always looked that way. To her, Queen Serenity was just "mom", unrelenting source of security and guilt, wonderment and frustration. The Queen glided over to her daughter's bedside and, uninvited, sat down on the side.

"Are you ever going to come out of your room?" Serenity asked.

"It's not like I'm holed up in here or anything," the girl scowled. Her eyes averted. Serenity waited for more. "It's just," and Usa sighed, "Helios isn't here. What's the point?"

"I know you miss him," Serenity said, her hand resting on her daughter's forearm.

"I'm five stages beyond missing him," Usa retorted. "Mom, I want to be with him so bad! Nothing else matters!"

A smile of recognition grew on the Queen's face.

"And don't tell me it's just like when you and Pop were dating," Usa said quickly. "You and he lived in the same district."

"Not always," Serenity began with a look that was trimmed in melancholy. "Remember, your father tried to study in America once. We were separated for - - well, it seemed like a lifetime, but it was two whole weeks."

"Two weeks," muttered Usa. "What I wouldn't give for it to be just two weeks."

"And then, of course, there was that nasty business with Sailor Galaxia," Serenity continued. Emotion colored her voice and caught her daughter's attention. "Even now I hate thinking about it. Seeing his crystal in Galaxia's hands and wondering if I'd ever see him again."

Usa's hand came up and grasped her mother's elbow. It seemed to steady the woman.

"Besides," Serenity said, marshaling herself on, "you can live in the same district and still have barriers. Your father was always surrounded by his studies and his college friends, and I was just a silly little fourteen year old girl who couldn't walk five steps without tripping. You remember how I was."

"Yeah," Usa murmured.

"There were times when I wondered if we'd ever be together forever, and that was after he stopped pushing me away." The Queen glanced at Usa with playful anger. "And I also remember somebody who made it her life's mission to be my rival for him, thanks a lot." 

Usa smiled at the memory.

"How did you survive it?" the teen asked. "Mom, it's driving me crazy!"

"Well, I didn't have a choice," Serenity shrugged. "Your father wouldn't even consider marrying me until he was well enough off to support me. It didn't matter to me. I could have survived on just his love - - and a few pork buns - - but he wouldn't hear of it. My only choice was to wait for him or forget about him." She glanced at her daughter slyly. "And I couldn't forget about him."

"Know the feeling," Usa grinned back.

"So I waited for him. Before you say it, yes it was hard. The gang helped me get through it. So did your grandmother, and even your grandfather after a while. And even your Uncle Shingo, in his own bratty way, helped me get through it." Serenity thought a moment. "But something else that helped was having a goal. I decided that your father deserved the best bride he could have and I was determined to be that woman. So I started studying so I could talk to him on his level, and other things like cooking and budget management."

"Mom," Usa eyed her cynically. "You forget, I was there for part of your teen years."

"OK, I never said I wasn't easily distracted," huffed the Queen. "Plus I did have Sailor Moon stuff to worry about. But I did try. And it helped keep my mind off of missing him - - just a little bit." She rubbed her daughter's arm. "But I guarantee you, sitting in this room and mooning over him isn't going to help. Go out. Go to school. Go out with your friends. Get a hobby. Get a job. The more normal you make your life, the more you'll be able to tolerate your guy not being in it. And then you'll be able to count the days until you can be with him without going crazy."

Diana suddenly appeared on the bed. "Listen to her, My Lady."

"How long have you been here?" Serenity gulped.

"The entire time," Diana replied with some chagrin. "I was - - sleeping by the radiant heat element in the far corner."

"It's her latest favorite spot," Usa smirked. 

"You've always been quite eloquent in matters of the heart, Your - - erm, Queen Serenity." She glanced at Usa. "Perhaps SOME PEOPLE should listen."

"All right, all right!" Usa bellowed dramatically. "I'll go, I'll get up, I'll do something! You people are such nags!"

The girl bounced out of bed and went to the closet to select an outfit. Serenity and Diana grinned at each other.

"BUT," the Princess huffed, sticking her head out of her wardrobe closet, "I WILL NOT - - STOP MISSING HIM!"

"Nobody expects you to, dear," Serenity smiled sweetly.

* * *

"Where's Cere?" Ves-Ves asked. She popped her head out of her bedroom into the central living room the four 'sisters' shared. Jun-Jun was at her desk computer. Palla-Palla was in her corner of the room playing with her dolls.

"Why, you need to torture someone?" Jun asked absently, then began softly reciting words into the computer's voice-activated word processor. Ves-Ves wandered over.

"You still trying to be a song writer?" Ves-Ves asked, peering over her sister's shoulder. The computer dutifully added her words to the verses Jun had already compiled. The girl snorted at Ves-Ves with frustration.

"Go mess up somebody else's work!" Jun fussed, erasing the line. "I only do it because it relaxes me - - lets me find an outlet for my frustrations. Maybe they're not any good, but I like doing it." She moved the cursor back to where it was supposed to be. "And Cere is out shopping with Hotaru."

"There goes the budget for the month," muttered Ves-Ves.

"Guess what next week is!" Palla-Palla chirped, coming up to them.

"Um, let me see," Ves-Ves thought out loud, struggling to keep from smiling. "Somebody's birthday?"

"Yes! It's Palla-Palla's!" the blue-haired amazon beamed. "Guess what she wants for her birthday!"

"A horseback ride," Ves-Ves said. Palla-Palla's smile dimmed with surprise for a moment.

"Guess what else she wants!" Palla-Palla persisted.

"A new doll?" Jun-Jun guessed as she surveyed her lyrics.

"NO FAIR! YOU'VE BEEN PEEKING!"

"It's what you always want, Stupid," Ves fired back.

"Well, Palla-Palla wants all that stuff," the teen said, walking back to her doll corner. "And she wants cake and ice cream and balloons and lots and lots of friends. And she knows the Queen will give it to her, too."

"And she'll probably eat half of the cake and ice cream," Jun mumbled. Ves snickered to herself. 

It took almost a minute for Ves-Ves to notice, but finally she realized that her sister's euphoria had died just a little too quickly. The red-haired teen turned and saw Palla-Palla in her corner stroking the hair of one of her dolls with an expression of forlorn sadness. The teen gently walked over and crouched next to her.

"What's wrong?" Ves asked. Palla-Palla wouldn't answer at first. She just continued to stroke her doll's hair. "Hey, Palla-Palla, we were just joking."

"Palla-Palla knows that," the girl said softly. By now, Jun was twisted around in her seat and looking. "She was just thinking - - about how nice it would be if - - if her real mommy could be at her birthday party."

Ves-Ves looked on helplessly. "Palla-Palla, we've been over this. We don't even know if your real mom is still alive."

"She is. Palla-Palla knows it. She doesn't know how, but she does."

"Well, even if she is alive, there's a thousand places in Brasilia she could be," Ves-Ves reminded her, "and she may not even be in Brasilia. You know we've tried tracking her down and didn't get anywhere."

"Palla-Palla knows," the teen murmured. "She was just saying it would be nice. She'd even trade her new dolly and horsie ride for it."

Ves reached over and rubbed her sister's thigh. "I know. But there's no point in dwelling on it. You'll only make yourself sad." Palla-Palla nodded silently. "How about I go to the cafeteria and get you some candy, huh?"

Palla-Palla looked up at her sister timidly. "Thank you," she said, gratitude in her big blue eyes. Ves-Ves gave her an encouraging smile and got up.

"I'll go with you," Jun-Jun said suddenly, sprinting to join her sister.

In the corridor, the pair headed for the cafeteria where there was a small selection of candy - - an addition to the original plans that Queen Serenity was responsible for. As they walked, Jun-Jun could see the smoldering anger in her sister.

"I'd like to get my hands on that woman for five minutes," muttered Ves-Ves.

"What would that solve?" Jun-Jun asked.

"It might give her some clue to the suffering she's put Palla-Palla through for all these years," Ves replied bitterly.

"She misses her. We all miss our parents. I don't even know who mine are and I miss them," Jun-Jun answered.

"Yeah, I know. I miss my Mom, too. But my mom didn't abandon me in a store. It wasn't her choice to leave me. There's no call for what that woman did to Palla-Palla." Seeming to notice her company for the first time, Ves glanced at Jun. "So why are you here? You don't eat candy."

"I've got an idea," Jun responded. "I've got to check a few things first, but I may just be able to get Palla-Palla a better present than a doll or a horseback ride."

Continued in Chapter 2


	2. Family Tree

LEGACY

Chapter 2: "Family Tree"

A Neo-Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

Usa walked down the palace corridor with some trepidation in her heart. She looked behind her, then again in front. Reflexively she looked up, because that was where her father's observation cameras were embedded, hooked to ceiling tracks that allowed them to move and shift for better observation angles. Sure enough, one was there, innocently taking in everything that happened in the corridor. For a moment, the teen considered abandoning her idea. But resolution flooded out any reluctance. Moving ahead, Usa passed through the barrier to the dimension that housed the Door of Time.

Entering the misty realm of shadows and fog, Usa made her way to the door along a path she'd traveled since she was two. The realm held no fear for her. The trepidation she felt was over what she intended to ask Sailor Pluto. Usa feared the senshi's answer would be 'no'. She feared losing the woman's respect for making such a request. She feared her father's wrath should he find out she even made such a request. But her fear was drowned out by a desperate longing that she didn't think she could endure any longer. What was shame and humiliation if not a minuscule price to pay for seeing her Helios again?

The looming shadow that was the door through the fog appeared up ahead. But as Usa neared it, she could hear voices. Her first thought was to run.

"My Lady?" she heard Sailor Pluto call out. "You honor me with your presence."

"Foresaw me coming?" Usa asked.

"I am privy only to the future in the real world, not in the timeless void we are in now," Pluto assured her. "Your hair casts a unique image amid the mists. I am happy to see you again."

By now Pluto's companion was in view.

"Michiru-San?" Usa exclaimed. "How did you get here? I thought only Mom and Pop could pass through the barrier."

"Pluto allowed me in," Michiru explained. "I'd asked her if it would be possible to visit her from time to time and she gave me a special key," and Michiru glanced wickedly at her friend, "once she got permission, of course."

"The King and Queen are my sovereigns," Pluto replied. "No amount of teasing on your part shall cause me to forsake that vow." Michiru tried to smother a grin.

"Well that's good," Usa beamed. "I know how far back you two go. And I know Puu - - Pluto can always use the company."

"I am grateful you approve, My Lady," Pluto nodded to her. "Is your visit a social call as well?"

"Um," grimaced Usa.

"If it's private, I can come back later," Michiru offered.

Usa didn't say anything, but Michiru took the subtle hint. She touched Pluto's hand. Giving the woman a warm smile, Michiru headed away.

"How may I serve you, My Lady?" Pluto asked curiously.

"Um," grimaced Usa.

"My Lady?"

"Um," Usa hemmed and hawed. "IsitokifIusethedoortogotoElysianandseeHeliosandbe . . .?"

"My Lady, please," Pluto pleaded. "I cannot understand you."

Usa exhaled loudly with frustration, gritted her teeth and looked down.

"I want to use the Door of Time to go to Elysian," she forced herself to say. "I want to spend some time with Helios and - - and be back before anyone notices."

"My Lady," Pluto sighed.

"Look, I understand if you have to say 'no', Puu," Usa added desperately. "Just - - just don't hate me, OK?"

"My Lady, I could never hate you," Pluto smiled fondly. "But what you ask is out of the question."

"It would just be for two or three, um, weeks," Usa persisted.

"My Lady," Pluto began.

"Please, Puu, you don't understand! I love him! I love him more than I've loved anything in my life! On that planet, we - - I touched his soul, Puu. It was so beautiful. I have to have more! I have to be with him!"

"You will, My Lady," Pluto offered her.

"When?"

Pluto grimaced. "I cannot tell you, My Lady. I have already told you more than I should have." The teen seemed to sag, and Pluto supported her. "Take heart, My Lady. Every moment is another step taken and another pace closer to that day. I realize it tasks your patience, but your journey will bear fruit. You must have courage and persistence." Her young charge exhaled dramatically. "I am truly sorry, My Lady."

"No, it's not your fault. I don't mean to be a spoiled little drama queen, Puu. It's just - - I've never wanted anyone this much in my life. My life's not normal anymore, and it's never going to be normal until I'm in his arms."

Regaining her strength, Usa stood on her own and freed herself from Pluto's support.

"Thanks for not being mad," she said. "And thanks for letting me know that Helios and I will be together some day. Least I've got something to look forward to now."

Waving warmly to her lifelong friend, Usa headed for the barrier. Pluto waved back with unconcealed fondness. It was only when the Princess was out of sight that an intense sadness overtook Pluto's expression. For it was her gift and curse to know all of the past and all possible futures, and Sailor Pluto knew the gauntlet of thorns young Princess Usagi would have to travel to reach the future she dreamed of.

* * *

No one saw him in the garden of the Palace of Crystal Tokyo. Only a few humans could see him unless he willed it. Because of that, Gallan waited in silence amid the remaining flowers of early autumn. He often waited here for a particular human who had a special rapport with members of the plant kingdom. Though he had been waiting a long time, still the youthful looking tree spirit passed the time in stoic silence. He was a tree spirit, after all, and patience was innate to him.

A human passed by and gave him a nod and a sweet smile. He returned the gesture to Queen Serenity. Here was a human who was nearly as old as he was. He could recall her as a young colt of a teen, wistfully walking past him when this ground was Juuban Park, thinking of her love, or running - - and tripping - - with her friends. Now she tended the garden as a way to escape the pressures of being the single most famous, most depended upon human in the history of the planet. Her power let her see him, just as her power let her coax the seeds and bulbs into life where conventional methods failed. Queen Serenity didn't have a green thumb. But she did have a big heart, and she managed through that big heart to coax the green to bloom.

After a time that Gallan didn't bother to measure, Cere-Cere appeared. When he caught sight of her, his spirits lifted and his heart sang. Human beauty meant little to him. It was the beauty of her aura that attracted him, as was her ability to see the beauty within him. Most humans took for granted the beauty he created every year. Not her, though. She was a unique and wondrous spirit and he filled with joy whenever he was in her presence.

"Greetings, my beautiful Cere," he smiled as she approached. "My spirit basks once more in your glow."

"Hi, Gallan," she mumbled, looking to the ground. "Sorry I took so long to meet you."

"The past is gone and means nothing. You are here now. I understand your obligations to your sisters and your Princess. I am grateful for the time you are able to spend with me."

"Um, Gallan," Cere began. Then her face twisted with emotion. "Oh, how do I do this?"

"What troubles you, my love?" Gallan asked. He placed his hand gently on her soft shoulder.

Cere-Cere emitted a deep sigh of resignation.

"If there is anything I can do, just name it," Gallan persisted. "I am ever ready to help you, for you mean a great deal . . ."

"Gallan, please!" Cere-Cere gasped. "This is hard enough." She took a moment to compose herself as the youthful tree spirit looked on. "Gallan," she began again, "I like you a lot. I respect you even more - - and I'm grateful to you for everything we've had together."

"I am pleased that I have given you joy," Gallan smiled.

"But," Cere grimaced, "I don't - - love you anymore."

The smile dimmed on Gallan's face. "I do not understand."

"I don't either! I thought I was in love with you. I did! But I don't feel the same way I did before. I don't know why."

"Have I done something?" Gallan asked.

"No! No, Gallan, you're not to blame here! You're as sweet and kind and wonderful a spirit as I've ever known! Please don't think for a minute that I hate you! I just - - well - - I'm looking for someone else to spend my life with. It's not you. It's me. It's completely me."

The wiry brown-haired spirit looked without seeing, lost as Cere's words swirled around him.

"I know you have every right to hate me," Cere continued, tears trickling from her eyes. "I hope you don't. I'd still like you to be part of my life." Her gaze fell to the ground. "Just not that part."

Without a word, Gallan turned and headed away, back into the rows of flowers in the garden.

"Gallan?" Cere-Cere called after him. "I'm sorry!" He stopped.

"There are legends among my kind," he said, turning toward her without looking at her, "of spirits who took terrible vengeance against humans who they felt had wronged them. I never understood how a spirit could think of such things." He turned away to leave. "Until now."

Bereft of strength in her legs, Cere-Cere sank to the ground. She sat and watched Gallan walk away from her, crying and unable to speak. She watched him until he disappeared from her view, then she continued to stare and cry after he was gone. Finally she felt a pair of hands on her arms. Turning, Cere found Queen Serenity crouched beside her.

"Come inside," Serenity suggested gently. There was a wellspring of sympathy in her eyes and her expression. "You'll catch cold sitting on the ground like that."

"Oh," Cere sobbed, allowing the Queen to pull her up. "I'm so terrible."

"No, you're not," Serenity told her. "We can't help how we feel."

"He hates me. He hates me so much."

"Give him time," Serenity suggested as she led the girl to the palace. "He just needs time to accept things. Gallan is a very noble spirit. I can't conceive of him hating anyone or anything for very long."

Cere's only answer was a shuddering sob.

* * *

King Endymion was in the communications room of the palace, conversing with the Foreign Minister of The Unified Malaysian States. The minister, a balding, somewhat pudgy veteran of governmental affairs and negotiation, was hoping to gain a more favorable import-export status by circumventing the Japanese Minister of Trade and going directly to the top. Endymion, however, was having none of it.

"But Your Majesty," the minister persisted. "There is so much benefit to an increased status, for both of our people."

"Since I haven't seen any presentation or had time to review any studies," Endymion replied calmly, "I'll have to take you at your word on that. This is why I leave such things to trusted ministers in my government. Dealing with such - - opportunities - - is why they have their positions."

"I fear your Minister is, well," the minister hesitated. "No disrespect to you or her intended, but I fear your Minister is - - short-sighted on such things. A man of your legendary vision would be much more able to see the potential of an increased trade status."

"I'm flattered you think so," Endymion patiently told him. "But Minister Takamoto has my full confidence, so you'll have to deal with her. Now if you'll excuse me, I have other matters that are pressing for my attention. Good-bye, Minister."

Endymion cut the communication and exhaled with fatigue as he turned to the two behind him. Jun-Jun and Ves-Ves looked on curiously.

"What was that all about?" Ves asked impertinently. Jun's eyes flashed angrily at her.

"Just a modern day telemarketer trying to sell me something," Endymion replied, amused by the teen's brashness. Though he still cast a wary eye on Ves-Ves, because of her temper and her past misdeeds, Endymion found her lack of deference to his title refreshing.

"What's a telemarketer?" Ves asked, puzzled by the twenty-first century reference that no longer had any meaning in the thirtieth century. Before he could explain, Jun nudged her sister with her hip.

"Um, Your Majesty," Jun-Jun began, "we've been trying to track down Palla-Palla's mother. We don't know where she is or even if she's still alive. Well, your computer is supposed to be the most powerful in the world and we were wondering if you could find out anything where we couldn't."

"It's possible," Endymion nodded. He rose up from his chair, his lanky frame towering over the two teens. "Let's give it a try."

Quickly falling in behind him, Jun-Jun and Ves-Ves traveled to Endymion's computer room. As they entered, both teens surveyed the room with quiet amazement. This was the first time each one had been here. The room was cavernous, with an entire wall taken up by the computer's massive database. Shoving his cape to one side, Endymion eased into his chair and began pressing crystal studs on the control panel.

"You couldn't find anything?" Endymion asked as he worked.

"Nothing other than the public records for Tanto Quatro Pai, the orphanage we were at," Jun-Jun told him. "And they're not too complete anymore. They got damaged in the Deutcher Separatists Bombings back in 2989.

"Yes, between the unification wars with Venezuela and Bolivia and the Deutcher attacks, records from Brasilia can be spotty," Endymion mused as his hands worked the controls. "Fortunately I have data stored from those periods. I make it a practice to download public records from all nations and store them. You never know when it will come in handy."

But nothing came up.

"Was Palla-Palla the name she always used?" Endymion asked.

"It's the only one I've ever known," shrugged Ves-Ves.

"Yeah, but you came to Quatro Pai after the rest of us," Jun reasoned. "I knew her from the start. Palla-Palla was a nickname, just like your name and mine. What did she call herself? She talked in third person, even then." Jun-Jun thought. "It was a real weird name. Athene! That's it!"

Endymion entered new commands. On the display, a record appeared. It showed a holographic image of Palla-Palla at age six and the recorded information that went with it. The name on the entry was Athene Santos Melo.

"Man, she looked just like a carnival doll back then!" exclaimed Ves-Ves.

"I remember the first day I met her," smiled Jun-Jun. "I thought she was a little strange at first, but she was just so bubbly that you couldn't not like her."

"I remember a few of the kids didn't like her," scowled Ves. "Beating them up was a good way to vent after what happened to me."

"Hmm. No father listed. Here it is: mother's name - Angelica Santos Melo," Endymion noted, highlighting the name. "We'll do a cross-reference with Brasilia census and see what we get."

Instantly a list of four names appeared, with ages and city locations in Brasilia.

"How do we know which one?" Ves-Ves pondered.

"The ages," suggested Jun-Jun. "Didn't Palla-Palla say her mom was really young and beautiful? What if she wasn't exaggerating?" The teen pointed to an entry. "That one is thirty-six. That would mean she was fifteen when she had Palla-Palla. That's the most likely one. The others are too young."

"So we got her!" Ves exclaimed.

"Not necessarily," Endymion advised them. "Palla-Palla's birth mother could be dead and this woman just happened to fit the search parameters."

"It's worth a shot, though," shrugged Jun. "Can you get an address or com-link number?"

Endymion complied and seconds later the information was displayed.

"Yeah," nodded Jun. "Could you put that and Palla-Palla's record on a holo-display, please?"

Endymion complied and handed the small device to Jun-Jun.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" exclaimed Jun-Jun. "You've been a big help!" Out of the room she raced, Ves-Ves right behind her. Endymion smiled after them, admiring their youthful vigor.

"Are you going to give that to Palla-Palla?" Ves asked in the corridor.

"Not until we find out if it's her first," Jun answered. "But if it is . . ."

"If it is," smiled Ves, "then you'll be able to give Palla-Palla her mom for her birthday. You're all right - - for a Goody-Goody."

The obscene gesture the "Goody-Goody" replied with made Ves-Ves snort with rude laughter.

Continued in Chapter 3


	3. Flying Down To Brasilia

LEGACY

Chapter 3: "Flying Down To Brasilia"

A Neo-Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

"You're sure she's not there?" Jun-Jun asked plaintively.

Ves-Ves peered over her shoulder at the vid-com station in the Princess Usagi's quarters. Usa and Hotaru sat not far away. Jun was talking to the superintendent of the apartment complex that was the last known address of Angelica Santos Melo, birth mother of Palla-Palla. The woman on the screen looked somewhere between forty and three hundred, with tired eyes and a lined face that was a mixture of Portugese, German, Black and Incan. White brittle hair topped her head, leathery skin was stretched over sharp cheekbones and the mouth seemed to naturally scowl. Her appearance surprised Usa and Hotaru, though she was a familiar type to Jun and Ves.

"Disappeared three months ago," the woman reported with some distaste. The com-unit translated her reply into Japanese, as it was programmed to do, though Jun and Ves understood Portuguese. "The apartment stood empty until the government resettlement lease expired. I had her possessions shipped to a holding facility. There's a new tenant moving in next week." The woman shifted in her chair and grimaced from the effort. "She wasn't here much when she was here. Slept through the day and on the street all hours of the night. God knows what she did."

"Do you have any idea where she might be?" Jun asked.

"Didn't leave a forwarding address," the woman replied, shaking her ancient head. "She never struck me as the responsible type. Her apartment was government furnished, or she'd probably have been evicted for non-payment." The woman squinted at her view-screen. "You look a little young to be a friend of hers."

"I'm calling on behalf of a relative of hers," Jun said quietly.

"Hmm," the woman nodded. "Well, sorry, I can't help you. Wait a minute." The woman turned away and went fishing through a desk. She came back into view with a palm sized PDA unit that had to be forty years old. "I'm texting you her caseworker's information. Maybe he'll know something."

"Caseworker?" Ves asked. "She's done time?"

"A couple of stints in 'disciplinary rehab', if I remember," the woman nodded. "I don't know the specifics. Her caseworker would."

"Well, thanks for your help anyway," Jun said, unable to conceal the disappointment in her voice.

"It's OK," the woman shrugged. "You know, I really like your hair, chica. Incan, isn't it?"

"Yes!" beamed Jun. "Thanks for noticing. Not too many people recognize it here in Japan."

"It looks really pretty on you. Well good luck in finding Angelica - - and I hope you're not too disappointed when you do."

The connection severed. Jun and Ves glanced at each other.

"Wow, that wasn't too encouraging," Usa mused.

"She said Angelica was in 'disciplinary rehab'?" ventured Hotaru. "What's that?"

"There's a really bad problem in Brasilia with 'Caina," Ves-Ves related. "At one time, there were so many addicts that the government gave up throwing them in prison. They just arrested them and stuck them in a rehab facility under guard until they beat the habit - - or their sentence ran out. It's hard, too. Once that 'Caina gets its hooks into you, it's hard to beat."

"What's 'Caina?" Usa asked, mystified.

"It's a synthetic derivative of cocaine," Hotaru explained. "It's vaporized and concentrated in an inhaler. They say it's an intense stimulant and very addictive." Usa looked at her with amazement. Hotaru shrugged. "We covered stimulants in my pre-med chemistry class a few weeks ago."

"Yeah, and that stuff is a photon bomb," Ves-Ves added. "I used to run with a guy in Sao Paolo. He got on that stuff. Turned him into a zombie in a year's time. All he could think about was getting more 'Caina." Ves scowled. "It was such a waste. Rudolfo had it all ahead of him. He knew every scam there was. He would have owned the old neighborhood by the time he was sixteen."

"Let me call this caseworker," Jun said.

"I can't believe stuff like this actually still exists," marveled Usa.

"It's a different world outside of Crystal Tokyo, Princess," Ves said bluntly. "This place may be a paradise, thanks to your mom. But a lot of the world is still catching up, and they don't have a Queen Serenity to lead them by the hand. You've led a pretty sheltered life in this palace. Jun and I have seen stuff you don't even know still happens."

"Well, it wasn't my fault that I never got out much," grumbled the Princess. Hotaru smothered a smile.

"Hey, Usa! Cere-Cere is here!" chimed the environmental control computer in Hotaru's voice, as Usa had programmed it. Hotaru rolled her eyes and shrunk into herself. The Princess bid her in and the teen shuffled into the room. She had on a conservative (for her) yellow sleeveless dress with glitter piping and a heart cutout bodice, and platform pumps.

"What's everybody in here for?" Cere asked. "I had to use the palace computers to track you two down."

"We're looking for Palla-Palla's mom," Ves told her. "And it's a surprise, so don't say anything or I'll pound you."

"As if," scowled Cere. "Any luck?"

"I'm trying to get a call in to her caseworker," Jun reported.

"She's got a caseworker?"

Ves nodded as she looked over Jun's shoulder. Burdened by this new concern on top of other concerns, Cere-Cere went over and sat down next to Hotaru and Usa. After a few moments, she could feel Hotaru's eyes on her. The teen glanced over to her friend.

"Did you have that talk with Gallan?" Hotaru asked softly.

"Yeah," sighed Cere.

"How did he take it?"

"You don't want to know," Cere scowled. After a moment's thought, the girl turned back to her sisters. "Maybe this isn't such a good idea? Does Palla-Palla really want to know that her mom's been in prison?"

"I thought about that," Jun replied while she waited for her call to connect. "It's probably not going to be pleasant for her to hear. But you've seen how she gets when she starts dreaming about her mom or missing her. I figure it's better she that know the truth rather than always wonder. I know I'd want to know, even if it was something bad."

"Yeah, well you're a lot more mature, too. Sometimes its better not to know the truth."

Cere could feel Hotaru looking at her again.

"That's easy for you to say. You knew your parents," Jun countered. "I never knew mine. I can't help thinking that not knowing anything is worse than knowing something bad." Suddenly Jun reacted to something on the screen. "Call's going through!"

Ves leaned in eagerly.

"This is Antonio Segui," said a middle-aged Brazilian man with salt and pepper hair and eyebrows and a gaunt face. "How may I help you?"

"I'm trying to track down a woman named Angelica Santos Melo," Jun told him. "I was told you were her caseworker."

"And what business did you have with her? We just can't give out personal information like that."

"We're trying to reunite her with her daughter, P-um, Athene," Jun continued, "if she's the woman we're looking for. Can you at least tell me whether your records list a child for Madame Santos Melo?"

Segui shifted at his desk and called up a record on his terminal.

"There is a listing in her record of a daughter," Segui told them. "No name given, though. Our records for her only go back eleven years, to when she entered the system."

"That would be about right!" Jun exclaimed. Ves could barely contain herself. "Would it be possible to meet Madame Santos Melo? Do you have an address for her?"

"May I first ask what your relationship is to Athene Santos Melo? You seem a little young for an attorney or private investigator."

"I'm Athene's adopted sister," and Jun hesitated, "Yaku." This revelation drew raised eyebrows from the other girls.

Segui thought for a moment. "Madame Santos Melo is currently under a sentence of forced rehab at the Menos Detention Hospital in Sao Paolo."

"I'm familiar with it," Jun nodded. "Can she receive visitors?"

Segui expelled a breath. "I suppose so. Perhaps it will even do her some good. But I have to warn you that Madame Santos Melo is undergoing her third enforced rehab for 'Caina addiction. I don't want you to expect too much from her. Are you in Sao Paolo now?"

"No, we're in Tokyo. But we'll get to Sao Paolo as soon as possible."

"Call me before you attempt to visit her," Segui suggested, "so I can arrange things."

Jun nodded, thanked the man and terminated the call. When she turned to the others, though, the look on Ves-Ves's face caught her eye.

"Yaku?" grinned Ves.

"It was what Mi Padre called me when I was with him," Jun replied, slightly defensive. "When he found me, I didn't know my real name, so he called me 'Aysiri Yaku'."

"Why would you have a Japanese name like 'Yaku'?" Usa asked. "I thought you came from Brasilia?"

"Aysiri Yaku is Quechuan," Jun advised her. "It means water sorcerer."

"You had water powers when you were a kid?" Cere asked.

"No," Jun shook her head. "Mi Padre found me floating in the Amazon, clinging to a fiber-plastic hull section from a water craft. He said it must have been my magic that kept me from being piranha food, so he named me Aysiri Yaku." Jun thought. "I thought he was just kidding, but I guess it is pretty miraculous that an alligator or piranha or something didn't get me."

"I don't understand," Hotaru interjected. "If your real name is Yaku, why do you go by the name Jun-Jun?"

The three amazons smiled to each other. "That's Palla-Palla," Jun admitted. "When we met at Quatro Pai, I told her my name. And she said it was too hard for her to remember Aysiri Yaku, so she would call me Jun-Jun."

"Yeah, she did that to all of us," Cere added. "My real name is Cerese Antonia Velandia. But that was too much of a mouthful for her."

"Yeah," nodded Ves. "OK, so now how do we get to Brasilia?"

"I can always ask Pop," volunteered Usa. "I always wanted to fly an intercontinental shuttle."

"What makes you think the King is going to let you fly an intercontinental shuttle?" Hotaru asked with a wry smile.

"Why not? I've got my permit!"

"For hovercars."

"Same thing!"

"Uh," Cere-Cere interjected, "maybe we could just use Sailor Teleport?"

Usa leaned back and blew at her bangs in frustration.

"Yeah, but aren't we going to need Palla-Palla for that?" Jun reminded them.

"Well, I guess we'll just have to tell her," Cere shrugged.

"That would kind of ruin the surprise," Jun countered. "Besides, I'd kind of like to scout this woman out a little bit before letting Palla-Palla meet her. She's got this idealized picture of her mom in her head. I don't want to crush the kid if she turns out to be some 'Caina zombie - - assuming she is Palla-Palla's mom in the first place."

"Well we can't leave her alone," Ves said. "Somebody's got to look out for her. And she'd probably sense us leaving anyway."

"Cere can stay with her," Jun shrugged.

"Oh, no! You're not leaving me here alone!" Cere spoke up quickly - - too quickly. That caught everyone's attention. "It's just - - babysitting her is annoying. And I want to see Brasilia again, too!"

"Palla-Palla's here!" announced the environmental computer, again mimicking Hotaru's voice.

"OK, nobody say anything about this!" hissed Jun. "Try not to even think about it!"

"Oh good, that'll help," scowled Cere.

"Let her in," Usa told the computer. The door hissed open and Palla-Palla walked in. The seventeen year old was clutching one of her dolls in front of her. Without any hesitation, she walked right up to Jun, who was still seated at the computer terminal.

"Palla-Palla wants to go, too," the girl said, disappointment clear in her face. "Palla-Palla wants to see her mommy."

"How long have you known?" Jun sighed in frustration.

"This many minutes," Palla-Palla told her, holding up eight fingers. "Palla-Palla had a vision of you."

"Now you know why you're never surprised on your birthday," Jun shook her head. "We were just trying to protect you. We don't even know if this woman is your mom. And, well, she's - - done some bad things. We weren't sure . . ."

"Palla-Palla doesn't care," the girl told her adoptive sister. Tears began to bubble in her eyes. "Palla-Palla wants to see her mommy! She wants to hug her and kiss her and tell her that she loves her! She doesn't care if her mommy did bad things! She doesn't even care that her mommy forgot and left her in that store and got lost! Palla-Palla wants to see her!"

"It might get rough for you," Jun warned her.

"It's OK. Ves-Ves will protect Palla-Palla, just like she always does. And so will you and Cere-Cere, and The Princess and Miss Hotaru Ma'am. Palla-Palla knows she can trust you all."

"OK, Stupid," Ves-Ves said quietly, putting her hand on her sister's shoulder. "We'll take you. But no crying if things don't work out."

Palla-Palla nodded her head with child-like enthusiasm.

"And leave the doll behind," added Cere.

"But Princess Kagura wants to meet Palla-Palla's mommy, too!" protested Palla-Palla.

"Uh uh," Ves said softly. Palla-Palla's lower lip protruded. She turned the doll to face her.

"Palla-Palla is sorry, Princess Kagura," the teen said to the fashion doll. "Please forgive her." After a moment, Palla-Palla smiled and everyone concluded that all was forgiven.

"Well, we may as well get going," Jun proposed, rising from her chair. "As soon as we let the King and Queen know about this, we can get started."

"Do we have to?" groaned Usa.

* * *

"I'm sorry they made you come with us, Aunt Rei," Usa fussed, privately stewing at this latest affront to her teenage independence. "Some day my folks will get it through their heads that I'm not five anymore."

"It's all right," Rei said. She was wearing a fashionable yellow sundress and low heels rather than her priest robes. "I volunteered for it. After all, six teenage girls unescorted in a foreign country is just begging for trouble. And you don't know everything yet, Muffin, in spite of what you think."

"Boy, you sound like Mom now," muttered Usa.

"There's no need to be insulting," grinned Rei.

"Well, it's not a foreign country to us, Sensei," Cere reminded her.

"And it's been how long since you've been there?" Rei asked.

"Come on, let's go while we've got daylight!" Ves said impatiently. "We're wasting time," and she leaned in maliciously to Usa, "Muffin."

The Princess shot daggers at Ves as the girl moved ahead of the group. Hotaru was heard giggling in the background.

On the roof, the King and Queen were waiting for them. Serenity was, as usual, nervous as a cat. In fact, she was more nervous than a cat, for Luna was with her and she was perfectly calm. As the six emerged and transformed into senshi, the Queen cut the distance between them. She grabbed Sailor Moon's hands.

"Be careful, Honey," Serenity told her.

"I will," Sailor Moon said patiently.

"Call me as soon as you get there?"

"As soon as I get there," Sailor Moon nodded.

"Are you sure you have . . ."

"Mom!" the pink senshi fumed.

"Oh, all right!" the Queen fussed, stamping her foot. Endymion moved in. His hand caressed his daughter's chin.

"Come back safe," he said.

"I will, Pop," Sailor Moon told him. As she backed away, she could see her mother in the background, mimicking speaking on an ancient telephone and pointing to herself. The pink senshi rolled her eyes.

With Rei in the center, the senshi joined hands and formed a circle. Their eyes closed and the jewels in their tiaras began to glow. Dust began to swirl around the circle, increasing in speed and intensity until the seven were surrounded by a whirlwind of disturbed air. The whirlwind reached a crescendo.

"Sailor Teleport!" they called out in unison and Rei Hino flashed back to a hundred times in her life when she'd done the same thing with a different set of fighting comrades. The group was enveloped in a bubble of energy and disappeared into the maelstrom. When it dissipated, they were gone.

The bubble formed again in a different location. When the energy dissipated, each of the Asteroids recognized the spot they landed in. It was the government office plaza in Sao Paolo, a familiar sight to each of them. Sailor Moon, Rei and Sailor Saturn looked around in wonder as each senshi reverted to their other identities.

"Why is it so dark?" Usa asked.

"The time change!" exclaimed Jun. "I forgot all about it! If it's four p.m. in Tokyo, it's four a.m. in Sao Paolo! Senor Segui probably won't even be in his office for another four or five hours!"

"So what do we do until then?" Cere asked.

"Perhaps we can find a hotel room?" Rei suggested, barely able to conceal her amusement.

"Right. Hotel room," nodded Usa decisively.

"I know where there's a great one! All the stars stay there!" Cere told them. Ves nodded eagerly.

"Sounds good!" Usa said. Then a thought occurred to her. "Did anybody bring any transaction credits?"

The six teens looked to one another with dawning horror. Then, sporting a cheshire grin, Rei produced a transaction card.

"Lead the way, Cere," Rei said. Everyone fell in behind her. As they walked, Rei leaned over to Usa. "And you didn't want me along."

The Princess stewed in silent frustration.

* * *

Elsewhere in Sao Paolo, a six year old girl suddenly looked up from her blocks. She was Brazilian, with thick black hair covering a round face. Her copper eyes stared, looking at something that wasn't in the room. After a time, an older man walked over to her and knelt beside the child. The man had blue-black hair and eyes that observed everything. His long nose and elegant mouth were still handsome, even though he had already seen fifty. From his tailored slacks and sport shirt to his well-manicured hands, there was a charm and style to him. But it was charm and style that masked a coiled cobra. He stroked the hair of the child, who didn't respond.

"What do you see, Maria? Is it an ESPer?" he asked.

Maria nodded.

"One of mine?"

The child nodded vacantly.

"Here in Sao Paolo?"

Again the child nodded silently.

"How fortunate," he said as he stood. The child ignored him and returned to her blocks.

Continued in Chapter 4


	4. Family Reunion

LEGACY

Chapter 4: "Family Reunion"

A Neo-Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

Comfortably holed up in their hotel rooms - - The Asteroids were in one suite while Usa shared another with Rei and Hotaru - - the travelers settled in. Rei was in the other suite, telling the Asteroids why she'd scaled back the extravagant room service order they'd placed. Usa emerged from the shower in a hotel robe, her long pink hair wrapped up in a towel. She found Hotaru on the computer station.

"Did you call the Queen?" Hotaru asked.

"Yes," the Princess sighed. "God, the way she fussed you'd think I ran away and eloped with Helios or something!" The girl grew a naughty grin. "If only. It'd be worth it then."

"She just loves you and worries about you," Hotaru told her. "I called Michiru-Mama. I wanted to let her know I arrived all right."

"I bet she wasn't on as long as Mom was on with me."

"Only because she wouldn't let Haruka-Papa talk," Hotaru smirked. Usa wandered over to the computer station.

"Not here a half hour and you can't stay off the porn sites?" Usa asked. Hotaru's cheeks instantly flushed, which was one of the reasons Usa loved teasing her so.

"It's a history of Brasilia," Hotaru replied with disdain, frustrated that her cheeks were glowing red. "I thought it might be a good idea to know a little bit about the country, since we're in it."

"What do you want to know?" Usa inquired. She sat down at a vanity and doffed the towel. Her wet pink hair fell down her back almost to the floor and she began brushing it.

"What do you know about Brasilia?"

"Well, unlike my mom, I actually learn stuff in school. Besides, I read up on it a few years back."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. When Mom first decided to make the others my senshi, I wanted to know a little bit more about them. See what kind of situation they were coming from, because all I really knew about them was when they were with the Dead Moon Circus. Pop wouldn't let me look at their individual files, so I dug up all I could about Brasilia. It's a lot different than Japan."

"How so?" Hotaru asked. She was genuinely intrigued.

"Well," Usa sighed, deciding where to begin, "the place is such a mixture of cultures, particularly after the unification wars. A couple of hundred years ago, Brasilia was six separate countries: Brazil, Bolivia, Venezuela, and a couple of others."

"Guyana, Surinami, and French Guiana," prompted Hotaru, glancing at her computer.

"Yeah. And even then, Brazil and the others had sub-cultures, like Incan and German and French ancestries, and descendants of Africans that had been brought over as slaves! Can you imagine? And they'd all been blending for over a thousand years, and yet there's still remnants of every culture, as well as the dominant Portuguese culture. It's really different from Japan. So much of Japan is rooted in our history, no matter what we pick up from other countries."

"Isn't that why there's so much strife over here?" Hotaru asked.

"Yeah. The Venezuelans have never been too happy with being part of Brasilia. And then there's the German Separatists in the south who want to split off. Plus the economic stratification of the country creates friction, too. There's still a poor class in a lot of foreign societies. That's a lot different from Japan, too. And - - well, you've heard the stories Ves-Ves tells - - it's not always pretty. There's a lot of crime, a lot of violence."

"You know an awful lot about this," Hotaru surmised. "This goes way beyond just researching your senshi."

"Well," the Princess shrugged, "I like to stay informed, you know. I'm not as 'sheltered' as Ves thinks I am. After all, I'm going to be Queen someday, whether I want to or not. It would probably be the smart thing to do to know as much about the world as I can. Mom can get away with 'ruling with her heart'. I can't."

Usa glanced over at Hotaru and found the girl staring at her with a heartened glow.

"What?" Usa asked.

"Thinking like that makes me think you're going to be a fine Queen," Hotaru told her.

"Oh, knock it off," Usa muttered. She tossed the towel at Hotaru and turned to conceal the grateful smile on her face. Hotaru twittered with amusement.

* * *

At breakfast in the hotel restaurant, the six teens and their chaperon dined and went about planning their course of action.

"Doesn't this look good?" Jun asked. "I haven't had red pepper omelets in years!"

"It does take me back," nodded Cere. "I wonder if we can slip a Portuguese cook book to Kino Sensei."

"She can do Portuguese," Rei commented.

"She can? Do you think she would cook something for us?"

"Asking Makoto to cook is like asking the Queen to paint," Rei smiled. "Unless she's busy, she'd be happy to do it." She wagged her finger at Cere though. "Just don't take advantage of her good nature."

"Me?" Cere smiled sweetly. Rei gave her the eye.

"Didn't they have Sugar Bombs?" Palla-Palla asked.

"Eat something else. You eat Sugar Bombs every morning," fussed Cere.

"But Palla-Palla likes Sugar Bombs."

"The change will do you good," Jun said. She glanced at the way Ves-Ves was eating. "Napkin."

"Here," Ves said, handing the unused napkin to Jun. "Did you lose yours?" Jun glared.

"I got the office hours for the Ministry of Social Welfare off of the net," Hotaru said. "They don't open until nine."

"And since they're government officials, they probably won't be in until nine-thirty or ten," Ves added, drawing sympathetic nods from Jun and Cere. "We got time. Um, but when we get there, maybe you guys better let us do the talking."

"Why?" Usa asked.

"Because you three don't speak Portuguese," Ves continued.

"Got it covered," Usa smiled, waving her necklace at them. The group only then noticed that the pendant on the necklace was her childhood toy, Luna-P, miniaturized by Ami into a pendant. "I had Luna-P transform into a universal translator."

"Very good," Rei nodded maternally. "I guess you won't need the one I brought for you, then." She reached across the table and handed one to Hotaru. Turning to Ves, she said, "If you feel it's better to handle this yourselves, go ahead. But I'll be there to give you any help the government of Crystal Tokyo might add, either through resources or prestige."

"Hotaru?" Usa asked suddenly, noticing her friend's expression. "Are you OK?"

"I don't know," Hotaru said. She seemed preoccupied. "Does anyone else hear that low buzzing?"

Everyone at the table looked around blankly.

"Maybe it's just me," Hotaru whispered. "Maybe the air here is affecting me differently. I do have sinus problems occasionally. I guess I should have brought my medicine."

"Let me know if I can get you anything," Usa offered. Hotaru smiled and nodded.

At nine, the party was waiting in the office of Antonio Segui. As predicted, Segui didn't show up until 9:22 and by that time Ves was annoying everyone with her impatience. They were all grateful that Palla-Palla had remained quiet.

"You are Athene Santos Melo?" Segui asked Palla-Palla. Palla-Palla just seemed to stare. After a moment, Jun concentrated very hard.

"Yes, Mister Segui Sir," nodded Palla-Palla, as if she'd received an unheard prodding. "Only Palla-Palla doesn't go by that name anymore. She goes by Palla-Palla now."

"I see," Segui said, staring at Palla-Palla with some measure of disbelief. Shaking himself, he turned to Jun. "And you are the sister that contacted me?"

"Yes, sir," Jun nodded.

"Is she mentally competent?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" rumbled Ves. Jun hit her on the leg.

"Palla-Palla does suffer from mental retardation, Sir," Jun explained. "My sisters and I serve as her guardians. She is competent enough to understand and converse with people and she does remember her mom."

Segui glanced at the other Asteroids. "You are all - - family?"

"Sir," Rei spoke up. "I'm accompanying them as a representative of the government of Crystal Tokyo and of Japan. These four girls are officially recognized as a family unit under the stewardship of King Endymion and Queen Serenity."

"I see," Segui nodded, impressed. He glanced at Usa and Hotaru. "And them?"

"This is Princess Usagi," Rei said, gesturing to Usa. "She is the - - benefactor - - for the girls. And this is Hotaru Tomoe. She is the personal bodyguard for the Princess."

Segui stared for an uncomfortably long time at Hotaru, for he couldn't quite believe that this shy little waif could be an effective bodyguard. Finally his attention was drawn by a movement to his right. He found Palla-Palla right up by his desk.

"Please, Mister Segui Sir," Palla-Palla ventured with the moist blue eyes of a child. "All Palla-Palla wants to do is see her mommy. Please let her. Palla-Palla promises to be good."

The man thought for a tense moment. Then he began typing on his computer terminal.

"I've notified the staff at Menos to expect your arrival," Segui informed them. "Please try not to be there between twelve and one. That's feeding time for the patients." He turned to Usa. "Since you three aren't family, you won't be able to see Madame Santos Melo. It's unusual for us to let anyone other than Athene here in, but in view of her - - special needs - - I'm allowing her, um, sisters in with her." He took in a breath. "I have to strongly advise you four girls not to give in to any entreaties Madame Santos Melo might make to either help her escape or to smuggle contraband to her. She is there for treatment of a serious addiction. It's her third such treatment, and each relapse makes a permanent cure less likely. If you interfere with her treatment, you may be dooming her to a lifetime of addiction."

"Yes, sir," Jun nodded gravely. "We won't. We promise."

"Contact Nurse Concepcion at the desk. She'll handle it from there. And - - if anything should happen - - please remember that Madame Santos Melo is recovering from a serious addiction."

Everyone nodded.

The halls of the Menos Rehab Facility were clean and sterile, but hardly inviting. It had the look so many government institutions had, even in the thirtieth century: bland, pre-fabricated and uninviting. In the entrance, there was a bank of computer screens. Three of them were helping other people. The seven visitors looked around warily, expecting something to happen if they moved. Rei hung back and allowed the girls to handle the situation. Finally Jun headed for one of the screens. The others fell in behind her, Palla-Palla almost clinging to Ves.

"Good morning," the computer screen said in Portuguese. The voice synthezation wasn't quite as clear as the computers in Crystal Tokyo, but they were understandable. "How may I assist you?"

"Um, we're supposed to talk to a Nurse Concepcion about," began Jun. The screen activated before she could finish. Within moments, the face of a Brazilian woman in her thirties appeared. She looked at Jun with the practiced patience of a government worker.

"Concepcion here. State your purpose in visiting, please," she said perfunctorily.

"Um, we wanted to visit Angelica Santos Melo," Jun began.

"Oh yes, the daughter," Concepcion nodded. "Senor Segui contacted me. Are you her?"

"No, Miss Concepcion Ma'am," Palla-Palla said, crowding into view. "Palla-Palla is the one who wants to see her mommy. May she?"

"I'm sending out an escort robot to accompany you," Concepcion said. "Only family members may go in. Non-family members will have to stay in the waiting facility to your left. Before you are allowed in to see a patient, you will all be scanned for weapons or contraband. Please leave anything that is a weapon or contraband with this unit. Visitations will not exceed a maximum of one hour. If you are asked by a doctor or attendant to leave during your visit, please comply. It is for the benefit of the patient inmate. Is this understood?"

"Yes, ma'am," Jun replied as Palla-Palla nodded. Ves leaned over to Cere.

"You ever wonder what the inside of a prison looked like?" Ves murmured.

The four Asteroids were led down a metal and ceramic corridor by the attending robot. It was a simple sensor robot that moved on compressed air propulsion from its foot wide circular base. Audio, visual, magnetic, sonic and radiation sensor input and output leads decorated a long pole that extended from the pedestal. Only Jun refused to give it a wide berth. The robot led them to a door, numbered forty-six, and stopped. Exchanging data with the lock through a laser communications beam, the robot unlocked the outer door.

"Please step inside," it requested in an electronic synthesis voice.

The Asteroids stepped into the small chamber between the outer and inner doors. The outer door hissed shut behind them. Seconds later, the inner door opened. The room was ten by ten with basic furnishings: a desk and chair next to a bed, a computer and vid-station, a toilet and a closet. Seated on a chair by the bed was a woman. She looked up as the door hissed open. Her eyes looked at them, but didn't seem to focus immediately.

She was thirty-six, but seemed older. Slight of build and short, she had thick midnight blue hair that was somewhat unkempt, deep circles under her eyes, and cheeks that were more hollow than normal. Her hair identified her as a descendant of the section of the population of Brasilia that had been caught in the accidental radioactive material dump of 2818, which caused minor physical mutations for generations after. Gaunt wouldn't be the word to describe her, but it could have a short time ago. Her expression was dull and listless, as if she was an angel whose wings had been cropped off and who longed to fly again.

Jun was about to speak, but stopped when Palla-Palla moved forward. Unafraid, the girl walked right up to the wretch in the chair and stood directly in front of her. Angelica looked at her and didn't seem to recognize her at first. Palla-Palla only waited.

"Athene?" the woman said finally. "It's you, isn't it?"

"Yes, Mommy," Palla-Palla nodded.

Angelica turned away. "What did you want?"

"She wanted to visit you, Mommy," Palla-Palla said almost desperately. "She finally found you after you got lost."

The woman turned back to Palla-Palla. Her gaze was sharper.

"You still haven't grown up," she said, the distaste clear. "You've become just what I was afraid you'd become."

Ves started forward, but Jun blocked her.

"Why didn't you ever look for Palla-Palla?" the teen asked. "She waited for you in that store for so long. And she was in the orphanage for so long."

"It was better for you that way," Angelica replied sullenly.

"Or maybe it was better for you!" spat Ves-Ves. "Did she get in the way? Couldn't you huff your 'Caina with her around?"

"Shut up!" Angelica hissed, becoming more animated. "Don't you judge me! You have no idea what it was like! I was fifteen when he got me pregnant! I didn't know how to take care of her! I tried! I tried for years!" Angelica's head snapped down. She seemed to be looking into herself more than anything. "But she was never going to grow up. She was only going to get older."

"Mommy?" Palla-Palla whimpered. She wanted to comfort the woman, but didn't know how.

"She was sucking the life out of me," Angelica continued. "She needed so much. She just took and took and took. I couldn't handle it! I couldn't give her anymore!" The woman snuffled loudly. "I'm weak. I admit it. I just couldn't take anymore."

"So you abandoned her?" snarled Ves. "Just walked her into a department store and left her? Just walked away? That was a solution?"

"Ves!" Jun hissed. She turned to Angelica. "Madame Santos Melo - - what about her father? Couldn't you have left Pa - - Athene with him?"

"Abrahan?" Angelica asked. She seemed to grow pale and distant at the memory. "No. Better she live on the street." The spell passed and her vehemence returned. "I wasn't an addict then," she said directly to Ves-Ves. "It was only after. Between her and her father, they'd taken everything from me." She looked away bitterly. "I had to fill myself with something. With the 'Caina, I didn't hurt anymore."

"Could you tell us his full name?" Jun ventured.

"No!" Angelica replied sharply. "Don't go near him. He's the devil. He'll suck you in the way he sucked me in. He preys on girls like you."

"Mommy?" Palla-Palla began timidly. "You don't have to be afraid. Palla-Palla will take care of you. She doesn't know how, but she will." The teen reached out to Angelica. "She forgives you for . . ."

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" the woman shrieked. Palla-Palla recoiled in horror. "I'm done with you! I don't have anything left to give you! You took it all!"

"Mommy?" Palla-Palla sobbed.

"I gave you everything I had! And it wasn't enough! It'll never be enough! Never!" The woman shook with naked fury. "Leave me alone! Go away and leave me alone!"

Her shoulders scrunched up around her head, Palla-Palla stared at the woman. Tears streamed down the teen's face. Finally she turned and ran for the door. When it didn't open, the girl pressed her face against it and cowered. Ves was quickly by her side and Palla-Palla clung to her. Jun and Cere stood protectively to either side. Angelica Santos Melo retreated into herself and sullenly ignored them.

"Attendant," Jun called out. "We're - - ready to leave."

The inner door hissed open. Angelica made no move for it. The Asteroids passed in. Moments later the outer chamber opened into the hall and they passed out into it.

"Give me five minutes with that bitch!" fumed Ves as Palla-Palla cried and clung to her. "Two minutes! I'll make her sorry for the rest of her life! I'll cripple her!"

"Yeah, that'll really help things," Cere snapped. She bent down to Palla-Palla. "Hey, come on, honey. You don't need her. You got us now."

"She hates Palla-Palla," whimpered the blue-haired teen. "Her mommy hates her."

"Yeah, well it's her loss," Ves told Palla-Palla. "You're probably better off without that 'Caina addict. She's too dumb and drugged up to even know what she's missing."

Palla-Palla continued to cry.

"Palla-Palla," Jun ventured, leaning in with her hand on her sister's shoulder. "This is all my fault. Maybe I should have left well enough alone."

But Palla-Palla shook her head. "Palla-Palla wanted to go. Palla-Palla wanted to see her mommy. And now she knows - - not to wish for it again."

Gentle sobs echoed down the metal and ceramic halls as four orphans headed for the exit, huddled together for protection as they had for years against an uncaring world.

Continued in Chapter 5


	5. The Calling

LEGACY

Chapter 5: "The Calling"

A Neo-Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

Though it was noon in Sao Paolo, the internal clocks of the Asteroids were still on Tokyo time and their bodies were feeling like it was midnight. As such, Palla-Palla was curled up in bed, though the teen didn't sleep. All through the trip to their hotel, she had remained silent. She acknowledged all her sisters' entreaties with a forlorn nod, but she wouldn't speak and would only stare at her shoes. Once inside, bereft of her dolls - - her "security blanket" as her sisters all knew - - the girl silently retired to bed.

Out of frustration as much as anything else, Ves-Ves exited the hotel and went walking, and woe to the unfortunate soul who crossed paths with her. Jun-Jun, though, made one more attempt to reach out to Palla-Palla, for reasons beyond concern.

"Still awake?" she asked, pausing at the door to the bedroom. Palla-Palla was doubling with Ves-Ves, while Jun and Cere shared the other bed.

Palla-Palla only nodded glumly.

"Sure I can't get you anything?" Jun asked, her voice sodden with emotion.

"No," Palla-Palla replied softly, almost out of mercy. "Palla-Palla is very sleepy and just wants to go beddy-bye." Even at seventeen, she still wore a modified version of her footed terrycloth bunny sleeper.

"Look, Palla-Palla, I'm sorry," Jun told her. "I didn't think it would end up like this. Not for the life of me."

"Palla-Palla knows. She can hear how sorry you are. She's not mad, honest."

"How about tomorrow we try to dig up some ice cream?" Jun offered.

Palla-Palla only nodded. Giving in to the hopelessness of the battle, Jun exited the room, the door hissing softly behind her. In the outer room, the teen leaned against the door and let her head fall back.

"She's still taking it hard, huh?" Cere asked. Cere was in her bathrobe and looked about to turn in herself.

"Madre Mia, I wish I'd never had this 'brainstorm'," Jun choked. "I never once thought that her mom wouldn't want anything to do with her. That's the problem: I never once thought. Now I've helped crush her."

"You know why you didn't think of a downside, didn't you?" Cere ventured.

"Sure. Because I'd want to know. Hell, even if my real parents held a knife to my throat and told me they wished I'd never been born, I'd still want to know - - just to know I wasn't grown in a lab."

"Yeah, but Palla-Palla's not you," Cere said. Then she touched Jun's arm gently. "Hey, nobody's blaming you, though. You were trying to do a good thing - - trying to do what you thought was best for everyone. If it blows up in your face, you can't - - can't really . . ."

Cere caught Jun looking at her struggle to finish her thought through vocal cords suddenly thick with emotion. Embarrassed, the girl looked away.

"What's wrong?" Jun asked pointedly. Cere only shook her head. "Come on. You've been weird ever since we left Tokyo. You jump at every shadow or sudden movement. You look like somebody stole your best dress and you haven't gone near a plant the whole trip. For you, that's weird."

"It's nothing," Cere replied, folding her arms over her chest.

"Have I ever bought that excuse?" Jun persisted. "Now what is it? I know you too well. I know when you're bugged."

Cere sighed loudly. "Just before we left," she extracted, "I - - broke up with Gallan."

"Wow. I didn't even know you two were having problems. Is it final?"

"It is now."

"I'm guessing he didn't take it very well." Cere nodded. "Did he threaten you?"

"Look, I can deal with it later," Cere said with a maturity she rarely revealed. "Right now we have to be focused on Palla-Palla. She needs help more than I do right now."

Silently Jun reached out and grasped Cere's hand, squeezing it. Cere nodded with gratitude, then headed into the shower.

In the other room, Rei was preparing for bed. In deference to her roommates, she was wearing a nightgown and robe, two things she didn't wear in the privacy of the palace shrine. Usa and Hotaru, naturally, were still up. Hotaru sat on a plush chair talking to her best friend. Usa lay sprawled over a sofa, her long legs pointed in the air and crossed, while her head and pink tails dangled to the floor. Smiling to herself, Rei leaned against the door frame. Had she ever been this young, the priest wondered?

"What's wrong, Hotaru?" Rei asked when she noticed the young teen grimace and touch her temple.

"I'm sorry. I still have a headache," Hotaru replied, demure to the end.

"Maybe you should go to bed," Rei recommended.

"What's being sleepy have to do with a headache?" Usa protested.

"Because she's crossed twelve time zones and the body doesn't always catch up easily," Rei replied. "Why do you think I'm going to bed at noon?"

"Because you're old," smirked Usa.

"I can still spank you, Muffin," Rei said with playful indignation.

"I'll be all right," Hotaru told them. "If it gets too bad, I'll send up for something."

Rei nodded. "Either of you check on Palla-Palla recently?"

"I just talked to Jun," Usa said. "She's still really down. Man, this whole trip has been one big disaster. How could that woman reject her own child?"

"We forget parents are still humans and humans aren't perfect," Rei told her. "Being a parent doesn't exempt a person from being weak or mean or selfish. Too many people still become parents when they're not ready or they're not qualified. And the saddest part of that is what that inability to parent can do to the innocent child. It can really mess them up for a long time, possibly permanently." The priest grinned ruefully. "I know that first hand. I don't remember how many years I wasted hating my father, years that I can never have back. The things I could have accomplished with the energy I expended hating him makes me so sad now. Serenity told me and told me to let it go, that it wasn't anything against me personally. But I never was a very good listener."

"Well, it's hard for a kid to deal with that sense of betrayal," Hotaru ventured, thinking back to her own situation. "You're supposed to be able to trust your parents. When you find out you can't, it's hard to deal with."

"Maybe I could do something," Usa posed.

"Such as?" Rei asked.

"Well," Usa began, "my Halation attack can bring out good feelings in people. Look what it did for Mehaat. Maybe, if I used it on Palla-Palla's mom, maybe I could get her over her bitterness and anger and whatever else is preventing her from loving her child. Maybe then they could start talking again. Maybe they could rediscover what they had once." Usa expelled a breath. "I mean it's worth a shot, isn't it? For Palla-Palla's sake?"

Rei crossed the room, sat down next to Usa, and patted the girl's shoulder.

"Your heart's in the right place, Muffin," Rei told her. "And this is a familiar conversation for me. Your mom had an idea like this when she realized that she could influence people's thoughts. But she found out that you can't force people to do the right thing. You have to convince them."

"I wouldn't be forcing them to get back together!" Usa protested. "I'd just be, well, putting a little honey on her disposition. What's wrong with that?"

"And what happens when your Halation wears off?" Rei asked her. "Then Palla-Palla and her mom are right back where they started from. Those feelings she has came from somewhere. She's not doing it just to be mean. And those feelings are going to come back once your Halation wears off - - or did you plan on spending the rest of your life zapping her every few hours?"

"Well I should be able to do something!" fussed Usa. "I'm Sailor Moon, after all! Doesn't that count for anything?"

"Your mom was Sailor Moon for years, and Serenity for almost ten centuries," Hotaru interjected. "Is the world perfect?"

"That's why your mom doesn't like using her power to influence thoughts," Rei added. "She realized that it isn't a solution. She wouldn't bring about peace, she would just be filling the world with a bunch of puppets. The only sure way out of this is for Palla-Palla's mom to somehow realize what she's missing by shunning her daughter, or for Palla-Palla to realize that her mom can't give her what she needs and to move on. You can try to persuade them, but you can't make them. Not as friend, not as the Princess, not as the future Queen, and not even as Sailor Moon."

Usa expelled a huge sigh. "This blows," she huffed in frustration.

"Yes, it does," Rei grinned. She patted Usa again. "Well, I'm going to bed. How's your head, Hotaru?"

"It still hurts," Hotaru frowned. "I think I will take something and then turn in. Do you suppose they have Zynelox in this country?"

"You can ask. Coming, Muffin?"

"Nah. I'm going to watch some vid," the Princess replied. Then she smirked. "Maybe I can get a porn stream on this set." She glanced mischievously at Rei.

"Well, if you see somebody you think I'd like," Rei replied, refusing to be baited, "record it for me."

All the while Hotaru felt her face burning uncontrollably and once more silently cursed her shyness.

* * *

Her gait was slow, her direction aimless. Ves-Ves didn't have a direction, really. She was just moving to move - - to keep from breaking something. That had been Mizuno Sensei's advice when she felt her anger welling into the uncontrollable beast. If possible, get away from the source of the frustration in order to cool down and get hold of her passions.

Sao Paolo hadn't changed much in four years. The government still crowed about the prosperity it fostered and the technological advances it was bringing to its people. But Brasilia was like so many other countries in the world not named Japan, in that all their shining efforts to recreate the utopia that had evolved in Crystal Tokyo were sabotaged by persistent human vices like greed and bigotry and lust for power. That's why there was still a gulf between the well-off and the not so well-off, like in other countries. That's why there were still poor in Brasilia. While most of the people in the entertainment and the capitol districts didn't notice them, Ves saw them. She'd been one of them years ago.

A pair of street kids ran down a street and ducked into an alley. Ves knew they'd stolen something just by the way they carried themselves and the route they took. Six or so years ago, she was one of those kids. Maybe they were homeless. Maybe they just had parents who didn't care. Life in the palace of Crystal Tokyo was so far away from these streets that it seemed like another life. But it was her life, her past, and she wouldn't forget it. And she wouldn't go back willingly.

A hand brushed along the side of Ves's pilot pants, near the pocket where she kept her transaction card. Most people wouldn't have noticed. If they had, they would have assumed the other person had just gotten too close. But Ves reacted from experience. Her hand shot down to catch the hand. She locked onto the wrist and, in a single motion, twisted as she pivoted to put the other person off balance and neuter any resistance. Sure enough, the transaction card that had been in Ves's pocket fell to the pavement.

"Wouldn't have done you any good," Ves grinned maliciously, glad for the excuse to vent with her knuckles. "There's only ten credits left on that . . ." Her eyes bulged. "Sancha?"

The teen was Ves's age. She had long, thick dark hair and a dark olive complexion. Her eyes were brown pools of rage and fear and her features were hardened by deprivation and want. She had nice clothes, though they hadn't been washed in a while, and they flattered her slim, attractive figure. In particular, strong shapely legs emerged from beneath the short nylon skirt. At the sound of her name, the teen stopped pulling and looked at her captor.

"Vanessa?" Sancha ventured, unsure at first. But as recognition came, light spread over her features. "Ves, when did you get back in town? Last I heard you were in Quatro Pai!" Instantly Sancha knelt down and retrieved the transaction card. She quickly handed it to Ves. "If I'd known it was you, I would never have tried for it."

"You're out of practice," smirked Ves. "I actually felt that." Sancha grinned warmly. "How are you doing? You still running the streets?"

"Until Martin knocks me up," Sancha shrugged. "So what have you been doing? You're dressed pretty nice - - for you."

Ves chuckled. "How about we get something to eat and I'll tell you. You look like you haven't had lunch yet." She glanced at the teen's bared midriff. "Or breakfast."

"I get by," Sancha replied defensively.

"Yeah, I bet. Come on. These credits were almost yours anyway. Can ten credits still buy a decent lunch for two in these parts?"

Sancha softened. "Yeah. The inflation isn't that bad."

Minutes later the two teens were in a small café near the entertainment district. Their nostalgia was sufficient to allow them both to ignore the suspicious looks Sancha got from the staff.

"Japan? You?" chuckled the dark teen. Ves noticed she was trying not to eat too fast.

"Yeah. I'm bodyguard for the daughter of the King and Queen of Crystal Tokyo."

"Sounds like a soft job. She some rich brat?"

"She's all right," Ves shrugged. "A little sheltered about some things, but she's got a good heart. And yeah, the job is soft, but I deserve it. I traveled a tough road to get there."

"What happened?"

"Ran away from Quatro Pai. Fell in with the wrong crowd," Ves scowled.

"Major bad guys?"

"MAJOR bad guys. Their boss fed me a line and I was stupid enough to swallow it. Pretty soon I was in so deep I didn't think I could ever get out. Looked like the end. Managed to stick it to the boss, but I figured I was still going down."

"So how do you end up in Crystal Tokyo?"

"The Queen. Queen Serenity. She saw something in me. Gave me a chance," Ves told her. "I don't know what she saw. I sure don't see it. But now I'm living the good life and trying like Hell not to screw it up."

"Is she everything they say she is?" Sancha asked. "Has she really lived for a thousand years? Can she do all the stuff they say she can?"

"Nobody can do all the stuff people say they can," chuckled Ves. "But she's pretty powerful. And yeah, she's lived for a thousand years, though you could never tell."

"She sounds like Jesus," Sancha said in awe.

"She is a little like the Jesus stories Father Melendez used to tell," Ves grinned. "But she's so down to earth. Every time I begin to get intimidated by her, she does something so nice or so goofy that it instantly puts you at ease. It's a Hell of a place to live." Ves sipped her mocha coffee. "How about you? Your father still giving you Hell?"

"Ran away when I was fifteen," Sancha admitted. "He wasn't going to quit molesting me. I did seven months for shoplifting and when I got out, I just didn't go home."

"Do you have anybody?"

"Martin," she smiled. "We share a room above a store. He works when he can, fences stolen goods on the side. I supplement our income when necessary. He's nice. You'd like him. Very macho. How about you?"

"Nobody I want to spend more than one night with."

The conversation continued as they headed back for the hotel.

"So what did you find when you and these 'sisters' of yours got there?" Sancha asked.

"Her mom didn't want anything to do with her," Ves frowned. "She was a 'Caina addict, three time loser - - you know the type. And her dad is apparently some lowlife who's worse than she is."

"Sounds way too familiar. And your sister is retarded? So who takes care of her now?"

"I do," Ves answered resolutely. Sancha's eyebrow raised.

"You? I can remember when you could barely take care of yourself," Sancha chuckled. Ves grinned nostalgically. "Well good luck to you. It's a tough break, but then we're used to those, aren't we?"

When Ves didn't answer right away, Sancha turned to her. She saw Ves staring ahead. Curiously she followed her friend's line of sight to a man and a little girl standing in between two buildings across the street from the hotel. The man was tall, fifty-ish, with a distinguished mustache and salt and pepper hair and an intelligent bearing. He was dressed in a nice suit. The girl was about six, a plain child with thick brown hair. To the ordinary passerby, they would seem ordinary and of little interest. But Sancha had grown up on the street and honed survival instincts told her the man was someone to avoid.

"You see him, Sancha?" Ves asked.

"I wonder what his scam is," Sancha commented dryly.

"I wonder why he's staring at my hotel," Ves added.

Sancha heard an electronic buzz. She saw Ves engage a comm-unit on her wrist.

"Ves, get up here! Quick!" came the report from the comm-unit. Ves instantly became agitated. She bolted forward two steps, then remembered Sancha and turned.

"Sancha, I," Ves began. The teen was openly torn. "I gotta go! Something's happened! I . . ." She stared at her long-lost friend, a girl she'd spent years with in her youth. "You take care, huh?"

"I will," Sancha replied with a trace of melancholy. "Good luck with whatever it is."

Ves nodded and raced across the street. Sancha watched her disappear into the hotel, then turned and headed back downtown.

* * *

Minutes before: In their room, Cere-Cere emerged from the shower. Her magenta hair was down, the fine strands falling down her back in a damp clump. Her robe was tied loosely and her elegant legs emerged from beneath and extended into plush slippers.

"It's too bad we're leaving tomorrow," she said absently. "I wouldn't mind staying here a few more - - years. Plush beds, velvety robes, room service - - this place knows how to cater to a guest. I mean, the palace is nice, but I just feel like a vid-star in this place."

"And it's nice to hear Portuguese again," Jun added absently. She was still working at the computer station.

"What are you doing now?" Cere asked, wandering over. She peered over Jun's shoulder. "Are you trying to trace her father? Jun, leave it alone!"

"Aren't you even curious?" Jun countered defensively.

"No! Jun, Palla-Palla's mom doesn't want anything to do with her, but she hates this guy enough to warn her away from him. What does that tell you about him?"

"Maybe it was a messy split and she's just being vindictive," Jun proposed. Then she recalled Cere's situation. "Sorry for bringing that up."

"Maybe," Cere mused quietly. Then some of her vigor returned. "Or maybe he's a human organ black marketeer or something. There are still bad guys in the world. Queen Serenity hasn't eliminated all of them."

"Don't you want to know for sure?"

"Not if it's going to hurt Palla-Palla even more," Cere said, heading for the bedroom. "I'm going to turn in. Although I don't know how I'm going to sleep in the middle of the afternoon. Time zones are SO annoying."

Jun heard the bedroom door slide open. An instant later, she heard Cere shout out her name with an urgency that immediately set her in motion. The girl raced into the bedroom and found what Cere had found. The window to the street was open and Palla-Palla's bed was empty.

Continued in Chapter 6


	6. Geneology

LEGACY

Chapter 6: "Geneology"

A Neo-Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

Barely waiting for the door to open, Ves-Ves burst into the hotel room. Waiting there for her were two of her Asteroid sisters, plus Usa and Hotaru and their chaperon Rei Hino. They were all in an animated discussion, but the room hushed when Ves entered.

"What happened?" Ves demanded anxiously. She surveyed the room and instantly noted who was missing. "Where's Palla-Palla?"

"Gone," Jun answered. "The last time we saw her, she was in bed. She must have gone out the window and climbed down to the ground."

"Was she able to do something like that?" Hotaru queried incredulously. "We're on the sixth floor!"

"She was trained in trapeze from our days in the Dead Moon Circus," Jun explained. "It's one of her savant abilities. Heights don't bother any of us."

"Well where'd she go?" Ves bellowed.

"We don't know!" Cere fumed. "Maybe she went back to see her mother. Maybe she went looking for her father. Maybe - - maybe she just ran to run."

"Or maybe somebody called her," Hotaru said distantly. Everybody looked at her.

"We didn't get any communications," Jun told her.

"No, I mean mentally," Hotaru shook her head. "I just noticed that headache I had is gone - - just like that, without me taking anything for it. What if it wasn't a headache? I have some sensitivity to telepathy. What if someone was calling out telepathically and all I could feel was a buzz. Maybe Palla-Palla connected to it and went where it told her."

"Are you sure about this?" Rei asked.

Hotaru thought. "Not totally. But it did seem like some of the visions I've had in the past, the way it felt. Now that I look back on it, it seemed like a vision was trying to come to me and it wasn't connecting."

"Hey, when I was coming back, I saw this creepy guy on the street staring up at the hotel," Ves reported. "He had this little girl with him. This guy was wrong. I've seen enough wrong guys in my time to know one."

"What did he look like?" Rei asked her.

"Um," Ves began, "black hair beginning to gray, pencil mustache. He was about six feet, maybe one-eighty to two hundred."

"That's pretty vague," Rei told her.

"I'M TRYING, OK!" Ves barked, for she and Rei still had a frosty relationship.

"Never mind. Just hold still," Rei told her. The priest pressed two spread fingers to the teen's forehead, then closed her eyes. "Think about him. Think hard - - as hard as you can!"

Flustered, Ves complied. She closed her eyes and concentrated. The teen put so much effort into it that her features twisted. Anxious seconds passed.

"Yes," Rei said distantly. "Yes, I'm getting an impression. Keep concentrating on him. The girl too, if you can. Yes."

Rei opened her eyes and took a breath. Purposefully the priest moved to the kitchenette in the hotel room. However, she found the stove was a state of the art model with a covered temperature induction heating element.

"Damn this modern world!" cursed the priest. "There's nothing with an open flame anymore!" Heaving with frustration, the priest stuck her hand to her side. "Mars Millennium Power Make Up!"

The transformation to Sailor Mars took a moment. "Controlled Fire Soul!" she shouted, extending her hand from her body. On command, the palm of her glove ignited. Though the cloth didn't burn, a fire burned in her hand, reaching greedily for the ceiling that was out of its grasp. Mars brought the fire in toward her, protectively cupping it with her left hand.

"Little kami of the flame," Mars spoke reverently to the flame. "As your priestess and your vessel on this world, I beseech you please answer my question. My eternal gratitude remains yours."

The others saw and heard nothing, save for the crackle of the fire impossibly burning in her palm. The young senshi again stared in wonder at the power and expertise the elder senshi demonstrated. Mars listened as the fire shimmered in the circulated air of the hotel room.

"Thank you, kami. Your aid is greatly appreciated," Mars said. The fire in her palm extinguished. "His name is Abrahan Melo."

"Oh my goodness," whispered Jun.

"What?" Cere asked, turning to her. But Jun was already racing back to the computer station. Everyone followed. "Jun, what is it?"

"Doctor Abrahan Melo," Jun said, verbally confirming what she already knew she'd find. "I think he's Palla-Palla's father! Her mom's married name is Melo. And I remembered she called him Abrahan."

Everybody quickly crowded around Jun as she worked the input board of her computer station. Listings popped up on an encyclopedia program that was common to the worldwide web. They were all listings answering a search for Dr. Abrahan Melo.

"Look at the listings!" Usa pointed out. "They talk about Dr. Melo in positive terms up until there," and she pointed to listing number thirty-seven. "Then it's all negative stuff."

"Let me do a biography search," Jun mumbled. Instantly a page sprang up with a picture of Dr. Melo and a biographical history.

"That's the guy!" Ves exclaimed. "Only he was a lot older!"

"He should be," Jun commented. "This picture is from 2977. He's probably in his fifties now."

"What's it say about him?"

"He was a brilliant geneticist with one of the pharmaceutical companies. But he had some really radical theories about genetic engineering that got him fired. He's had a couple of run-ins with the law in the 2980s, but hasn't been seen around lately. At least there's no published data on him."

"What were the run-ins for?" Mars asked.

"Um," Jun began, searching the biography. "He was charged with a domestic dispute in 2988, but they don't go into details. Then in 2993, he was caught trying to induce runaways from Quatro Pai orphanage. They charged him with kidnaping, but it got reduced to contributing to the delinquency of a minor and he did nine months in prison."

"I knew he was wrong," Ves scowled. "I knew he was wrong the minute I saw him."

"You suppose he got to Palla-Palla somehow?" Cere postulated. "Lured her away with a bunch of lies and she believed him because he's her father?"

"Sounds believable. Palla-Palla trusts just about anybody. If he said he was her dad, she might follow him anywhere," Ves said. "We got to do something! We got to find her!"

"I know," Jun said soberly. "But where do we start looking?"

Nobody said anything.

"Well I'm going to contact the police," Mars told them, heading for the com-link station.

"The police aren't going to do anything," snorted Ves. "Not unless you've got money or influence."

"Well, I can always call Endymion and have him lean on the government a little, if that's what it takes," Mars replied as she engaged the com-link.

"Um," Hotaru ventured cautiously. "I don't suppose he'd be in the com-link directory?"

"Not if he's as smart as he's supposed to be," Ves told her.

"It's worth a try," Jun shrugged.

As Jun worked, the others looked at each other helplessly.

"What does he want with her?" Usa posed. "I can't imagine he just wants a family reunion. How did he even know she was in the country, let alone here?"

"And how did he communicate with her?" Hotaru followed up. "Is he telepathic, too? Is that where she got it from? Maybe that's how he knew."

"Or maybe her mom told him," Cere mused.

"But she despises him," Usa protested.

"So she says. Maybe it was for our benefit."

"Or maybe he just promised her some 'Caina," sneered Ves. "You don't know what that stuff does to a person. I saw 'Caina addicts sell their children for some. That junk owns them and some of them will do anything for it."

"No listing," Jun reported. "Guess he is that smart."

"Palla-Palla has telepathic links with all of us," Hotaru said suddenly. "Maybe we can communicate with her. Your link is the strongest, Ves-Ves. Try to reach out to her."

Without any hesitation, Ves closed her eyes and reached out, calling out mentally to the adoptive sister she looked after and defended so fiercely. The teen continued to call silently as the others watched and waited. Moments passed and mounted, but Ves kept trying desperately. But after a stretch of time way beyond the point where the others would have given up, Ves sagged and opened her eyes.

"Nothing," she said, emotion nearly stealing her voice. "If she heard me, she's not answering."

"The police have been notified," Mars informed them.

"So what do we do now?" Ves demanded frantically.

"I'm going to bed," Mars told her. "I suggest you do the same."

Everyone stared at her in shock.

"TO HELL WITH THAT!" roared Ves. "We have to find her!"

"Do you know where to look?" Mars asked her pointedly, her own ire rising. "We've all been up for over sixteen hours. We're going to be hitting exhaustion soon and we've got no other means of tracking her down. I'd do a fire reading if I could, but I can't."

"Why can't you make a fire in your hand again?" Cere asked.

"It's too small for the reading I'd need to do. And a bigger fire would set the hotel room on fire."

"So you're just going to give up?" Ves fumed. Mars looked at her with barely controlled temper.

"Premonitions also come to me in dreams," she said thinly. "Right now, it's the only option I see, short of the police finding anything. It's certainly a better plan than running all over this city blindly, hoping you stumble onto her." Mars took a couple of steps toward the defiant teen. "A long time ago, a very wise man tried to teach me that patience can be an extraordinarily valuable tool in getting what you want. It took me a while to learn that, but I did. And it's a lesson that you could stand to learn as well. It might keep you from making all the mistakes you've made in your life OVER AGAIN!"

Ves's jaw jutted out and everyone else in the room knew what that was a sign of.

"Fine!" snarled Ves-Ves. "You have a nice cozy little sleep, HINO-SAMA, while Palla-Palla is out there having God knows what done to her! But I'M going to do something!" Her henshin stick appeared in her hand. "Vesta Star Power Make Up!" The transformation took moments, with Sailor Mars glaring at the girl the entire time. "FAUNA ASSIMILATION - - BLOODHOUND!"

The senshi transformed into a bloodhound. Instantly the dog bounded over into the bedroom and began sniffing the sheets Palla-Palla had been curled up on. Seconds later, she bounded out, through the door to the hotel room and down the hall, her nose pressed to the carpeting. Without a response, Sailor Mars turned and headed out to her own hotel room. Usa quickly followed her.

"Aunt Rei," Usa said, catching up with the elder as she transformed back from Sailor Mars. "Don't be too hard on Ves, huh? She just - - really cares, you know? Sure, sometimes she cares too much . . ."

"Let's hope it doesn't affect her judgment!" Rei snapped. "The last thing she needs to do is go charging into a situation that's over her head! That won't help Palla-Palla!"

"Yeah, patience. I know. But it's hard to be patient in some situations. You know, like when Prince Mehaat grabbed me a few months ago?"

Rei whirled on her, wide-eyed with shock.

"I heard you were ready to lead a banzai charge," Usa grinned timidly. "Even smacked Mom down when she tried to stop you."

"Where did you hear that?" Rei gasped.

Usa was about to answer, but Rei read it first.

"Minako," the priest scowled. "That woman has the biggest mouth in the solar system!"

"Hey, I'd probably have been the same way if it was Helios or Hotaru, or Mom and Dad," and she walked up to the priest, "or you." That drew a tiny grim from Rei.

"When did you get to be so wise, Muffin?" Rei asked gently. She sighed. "I guess it's not a bad plan of action. After all, I can't guarantee I'll dream anything pertinent. I just wish I could trust that girl's judgment."

"Maybe somebody should go with her?" Usa suggested, trying not to look too hopeful. "Jun or Cere - - or somebody?"

It was quickly apparent to the teen that Rei had read her actual intention. It was a familiar sensation to the pink-haired princess.

"Be careful, Muffin," Rei grinned. Usa nodded enthusiastically and bounded out. "The Gods grant you fortune."

On her way back to the hotel room the Asteroids were staying in, Usa met Hotaru in the hall.

"Come on, we've got to get the Asteroids and go after Vesta," Usa told her on the run.

"They already left," Hotaru informed her. Usa stopped in her tracks and turned. "They figured Vesta might need help."

Usa thought for a second. "We might be able to catch up to them. You up for it?"

Hotaru considered her actions for a moment. "Sure. After all, there's not much beauty sleep can do for me."

"Hotaru!" Usa fussed as the two girls ran for the pneumatic lift. "I keep telling you that you're as pretty as anyone!"

Cere-Cere ran down the street, her eyes searching for a bloodhound. It would be an unusual sight in the streets of Sao Paolo, but that didn't mean she would be immediately obvious. Jun had gone the opposite direction so they could cover more ground. Reaching an intersection, she stopped a couple on the street.

"Did you see a big brownish-red dog run by here a few minutes ago?" Cere asked. The man and woman looked at each other.

"Yes, I saw it go down that street," the woman pointed. "Is it your pet?"

"Yeah," Cere answered, changing course and running north. As she ran, she pulled out her senshi communicator. "Jun! I'm on Boulevard Salazar! I've got a lead on Ves! Headed north from the hotel!"

"I'll meet you!" Jun broadcast back. Cere kept running.

Moments later, she came to another intersection. Looking around, she spotted Ves headed east again. Cere easily caught up with the dog, as Ves couldn't run very fast while trailing the scent.

"Any luck?" Cere asked.

"You don't see her, do you?" the dog replied gruffly.

"You don't need to be snotty about it! I'm just as worried about Palla-Palla as you are!" The dog made no reply. "Jun will be here as soon as she can catch up to us."

They walked on. At the next corner, Jun-Jun met up with them. She had Usa and Hotaru with her. When Cere spotted the other two, her eyes glowed with silent gratitude.

"Figured you could use some help, Vesta," Usa offered. "Besides, she's one of my senshi. I have to look out for her."

"Just remember," Vesta growled, "her father is mine."

"Let's not attack until we find out what's going on, OK?" Jun warned the dog.

The trail led on for slightly more than a mile. As they walked, the scenery around them changed. It went from the newer, more cared-for sections of the government plaza and the surrounding retail district into a manufacturing district that was darker and worse for wear. Homes were few and far between, as were retail businesses. The district was overgrown with production plants, some still in use. The plants still in use were nearly all automated, with just a small workforce that maintained the automation and handled shipping and delivery. Thus it was often hard to tell from the street which plants were still active and which were closed. They all loomed ominously over the five interlopers.

"This is the old rocket car plant district, isn't it?" Jun speculated. "I've never been in this end of town before."

"I never wanted to be in this end of town!" Cere scowled. "It's so cold and ugly."

"Don't worry. I know my way around," Vesta said, her nose still to the ground. "Some of my running mates and me used to come up here at night and steal the surplus fiber-optic cable and sell it on the black market."

"Figures," huffed Cere.

"You stole?" Hotaru asked. "I know you had a rough childhood, but . . ."

"Yeah," Vesta cut her off. "Sometimes kids in my neighborhood only had two choices if your dad drank away the week's pay. And I wasn't going to walk the streets, if you know what I mean."

"There's all kinds of rough, Vesta," Usa said, glancing sympathetically at Hotaru. "You didn't have a monopoly on it. Nobody's going to hold it against you as long as you don't do it anymore."

"How much further?" Cere interjected.

"How should I know?" Vesta shot back. "But we're still on her trail. And there's two more scents that have stayed with her. They must be her dad and that kid that was with him."

"We're close," Hotaru announced suddenly. Everybody stopped and looked back at her. Hotaru was holding her head and seemed to be in some discomfort.

"Hotaru?" Usa asked, concerned.

"That headache is back," Hotaru told her. "I think it is some sort of psychic communication. I just can't seem to tune in on it." She pointed at a darkened manufacturing complex to their right. "I think it's from there."

Vesta sniffed around the area for a few seconds. "Yeah, the scents seem to lead in there. Her father and the girl have been in and out of here a lot." Instantly Vesta changed back into human form. "Let's go!"

"Hold it!" Jun snapped, grabbing Vesta's arm. "Let's find out what's in there, first. How about you change into a bird or something and scout the place out while we transform."

Vesta nodded. "Fauna Assimilation - - Sparrow!"

Transformed into a bird, Vesta flew up to one of the windows near the roof of the complex. Perching easily on the sill, Vesta hopped over and peered into the window. What she saw amazed her.

Continued in Chapter 7


	7. A Terrible Thing To Waste

LEGACY

Chapter 7: "A Terrible Thing to Waste"

A Neo-Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

It was after midnight in the palace grounds back in Crystal Tokyo. The October night was cool without being chilly. With no clouds that night to obscure it, the crescent moon was bright in the sky. The grounds were still with the night, save for the small creatures that came out during the night to forage. And save for another creature not usually given to venturing out at night.

Queen Serenity leisurely walked up to a particular tree and casually leaned against it. The sturdy trunk easily supported her scant one-hundred pounds. Rather than speak, the queen gazed up into the night sky. The tranquility of the grounds remained undisturbed for many minutes.

"Well, it looks like that old rabbit has been very hungry this month," she said softly, staring up at the crescent moon in the sky. "He better watch it or he'll get fat."

Silence was all around her.

"That was one of my favorite stories when I was a child," she mused, seemingly to no one. "The rabbit in the moon - - ironic, I guess. But the thought of a cute little bunny nibbling on the moon until it was all eaten up just made me so tingly when I was a girl. Maybe it was the way Dad told it. He was always good with stories."

Again, silence filled the area when she finished speaking.

"Forgive me for disturbing you, Gallan," Serenity said. "May I speak with you?"

The youthful-looking tree spirit shimmered into view next to Serenity. He bowed courteously to her and she nodded in acknowledgment.

"How are you feeling? You seem sad," Serenity told him. "Given what happened, I suppose it's understandable."

"Your concern is appreciated, Queen Serenity," Gallan replied. "But I would prefer not to discuss it."

"Well, that's understandable, too. But I never understood why someone would want to bury themselves in their heartache. Perhaps talking it out might help."

"What is to discuss? I gave my love to a human and she cast it aside."

"And it hurts. But perhaps 'cast aside' is too strong. Perhaps she just couldn't accept such a wonderful gift in the end."

"Why?" Gallan demanded. "She said she did, once. What changed? Why is it different now? You were human once. Tell me what changed!"

"It's difficult to know for certain, Gallan," Serenity told him. "It isn't like planting a seed in the ground and knowing that a tree will grow from it. Love is a very strong feeling, but it's also a very fragile feeling. It's something that can last forever, but something that can die from a single act. It's also very - - mysterious to us and sometimes we mistake other feelings for it." The Queen paused for a moment. "When I was a girl, I had this tremendous crush on a boy named Motoki. I thought Motoki was just the most wonderful man in the universe and I thought I was in love with him. And then Mamo-chan came along - - and I discovered that I could love a man more than I could love Motoki. And I realized that I just loved Motoki as a friend and nothing more."

"Was this Motoki hurt when you told him?" Gallan asked.

"Actually, I think he was relieved more than anything," Serenity grinned. "He was older than I was and had another woman that he was interested in. They ended up getting married. And I was this ditzy little girl who thought she was a lot smarter and more attractive than she actually was. Looking back, I can think of a thousand times when he tried to tell me nicely that he wasn't interested and I was too love-struck to hear him." Serenity looked back up at the moon. "I'm grateful to him that he was patient enough with me and didn't do anything to hurt me or damage our friendship. After all, it wasn't anything about me that he didn't like. He just didn't love me"

"You are defending Cere-Cere," Gallan observed, "but in a way so as not to make me in the wrong. You are kind and wise, Queen Serenity."

"Saw through me, huh?" Serenity smiled. "There's an old human saying: Sometimes the truth hurts. What they don't say is that a lie hurts more and for a longer time when its found out. Perhaps Cere-Cere didn't handle telling you correctly. Perhaps there was no way to handle it without hurting you. But infatuation is a fact among humans, particularly young humans like her. She didn't set out to hurt you. The fact that she was honest with you demonstrates that. So does the fact that she tried to make the relationship work past the point where she didn't feel the same way about you."

"I see the wisdom of your words," Gallan said. "But I still hurt. I have seen over a thousand summers and I did not know I could still feel this way - - but I do. The times I had with Cere-Cere were magical. I want them back."

"Well, as someone who has also seen over a thousand summers, I think you know just like I do that you can't always have what you want. You either have to lower your expectations or do without. It's harsh, I know, but punishing Cere-Cere or yourself isn't going to make you happy. I do know that."

Gallan's brow furrowed, but ultimately he nodded. Serenity touched his hand.

"You don't have to carry this burden alone. Come see me in the palace when you want to talk. I'll make time," Serenity told him. "Or talk to Rei. She can be very understanding, too. And perhaps one day you'll be able to talk to Cere-Cere again without it hurting. I think she'd like that."

The tree spirit's form shimmered into nothingness. Serenity took on a melancholy smile and returned to looking at the moon.

* * *

Transformed into a bird, Vesta flew up to one of the windows near the roof of the complex. Perching easily on the sill, Vesta hopped over and peered into the window. What she saw amazed her.

Inside the old manufacturing complex was a bay of human sized clear cylinders hooked up to cables. The cables ran to a computer control bank that took up part of a wall, much the way King Endymion's computer did. Without counting, Vesta estimated that there were about sixty cylinders arranged in rows and interconnected. And inside the cylinders were children and teens.

They were roughly equal numbers of both sexes and varied in age from eight to eighteen. They were almost entirely Brazilian, though there were a few relatively pureblood German or French. All of them slept rigidly in the cylinders with life support masks over their lower faces and other life support tubes running in and out of their young bodies. They were all held in place by belts fastened around their waists and secured to the sides of the cylinders, as well as harnesses around their shoulders holding them upright. It seemed to Vesta as if there was a slight glow to the cylinders, but her sparrow eyesight wouldn't allow her to register such detail.

Movement in the front row of cylinders caught her eye. Vesta looked down, inching closer to the window, and spotted Abrahan Melo. He wore a protective suit of non-conductive, acid and radiation resistant dyna-fiber, much like the spaceship propulsion engineers used. Protective eye goggles dangled around his neck. The young girl was with him, shielded by a strap-on apron of the same dyna-fiber material. Melo seemed to be examining the youths in the cylinders. Vesta let her eye wander, searching for Palla-Palla. Within moments she found her. Palla-Palla was in one of the front row cylinders, strapped in and sleeping.

"Palla-Palla?" Vesta thought, trying to reach her sister through their psychic connection.

Palla-Palla didn't react. But the little girl did. Her head turned and she looked up at the window, directly at Vesta. Her young face registered no expression. But suddenly Melo looked up as well. Vesta rapidly retreated, flying back to the other senshi on the street.

"She's in there!" Vesta gasped as she returned to human form. The others crowded around her. "I saw her! She's in trouble!"

"Let's go then!" Sailor Moon gasped. But Vesta, of all people, stopped them.

"She's not alone," Vesta told them. "Melo and that kid are in there, too. And I think they sensed me somehow. I think they know we're here."

Suddenly Sailor Saturn flinched and nearly doubled over.

"Saturn?" Sailor Moon gasped.

"Hurts!" she hissed out. "It's like somebody's sticking needles into my mind!" She struggled with the pain for a second. "I'll be all right. Let's go."

With a slice of her glaive, Saturn split open the security fence surrounding the plant. The senshi sprinted in, headed for the plant itself.

"So what's he doing to Palla-Palla?" Juno asked.

"He's got her in some clear tube, hooked up to a bunch of wires and stuff," Vesta reported. "There are fifty or sixty people in there with her, all kids and teens and all in the same fix."

"Why?" marveled Ceres.

"Beats me," Vesta scowled. "I'll try to remember to ask him while I'm beating his ass."

When they reached the front door, Saturn pulled her glaive back to slice through it. But the heavy metal doors swung out slowly on their own. Juno was about to ask if they should venture in, but didn't when Vesta and Ceres ventured in anyway.

"I thought I'd save myself having to repair my door and invite you in," Abrahan Melo said. He had a sophisticated, almost charming way about him. The little black-haired girl stood vacantly next to him. Behind him were the cylinders containing all the children and teens. Second from the end held Palla-Palla.

"Moon Tiara Action!" Sailor Moon called out, ripping the tiara from her head and flinging it at the cylinder.

However, Melo gestured at it with his hand, the fingers bent as if grasping it. Miraculously the energy disk the tiara had converted into hovered in mid-air. It tried to move forward, but was held by an unseen force that it couldn't resist. The senshi stared in shock. Unable to maintain its form, the disk lost power and returned to tiara form. Melo opened his hand and the tiara dropped to the floor.

"I can't allow you to do that," Melo told them, as if lecturing children. "You'd damage very sophisticated, very expensive equipment - - as well as the girl inside."

"What are you doing to Palla-Palla?" Sailor Moon demanded.

"Palla . . .?" stammered Melo. "Is that a name?"

"You might know her better as Athene Santos-Melo," Juno said with some contempt. "Your daughter."

Melo smiled. "Roughly half of these subjects are my biological children. I hold no more regard for Athene than I do for any of the other ones. They are merely subjects I produced for a procedure that has been nearly twenty years in the making."

"You cold bastard!" snarled Vesta. "Fauna Assimilation - - Bengal Tiger!"

Bounding forward, Vesta changed in mid-stride into a Bengal tiger and leaped at Melo. But in mid-leap, she struck an invisible barrier and was thrown back. Undaunted, she growled her transformation phrase again and changed into a lowland gorilla. The giant simian rose up and began pounding on the barrier, to no avail.

"Floral Stimulation!" Ceres shouted. She hurled a pouch containing soil and seeds to the ground next to the barrier.

Instantly the pouch exploded into a tangle of vines that grew and thickened rapidly. The vines pressed against the barrier. They slithered up, attempting to climb over it, and out, trying to slither around it. But the vines were stymied at every turn. By now Vesta had transformed into an elephant and was pushing against the barrier. Behind it, Melo and the girl remained calm, Melo brimming with confidence.

"Look," Juno whispered to Saturn and Sailor Moon. She pointed to the cylinders. "Notice that they're glowing more brightly?"

"Yes," Saturn whispered. She glanced at Melo and the girl, then locked on the girl. "Look at the girl. Her eyes are rolled back into her head."

Suddenly Saturn burst from the pack and ran for the cylinders to the right of Melo and the girl. Her glaive swung back and her intent was clear: to sever the cables connecting the cylinders to each other.

Lunging from behind his barrier, Melo reached out and closed his hand. Saturn was suddenly jerked backward, pulled by the handle of her glaive. The senshi fell awkwardly to the floor, retaining her grip on the glaive with one hand. Melo then gestured with his other hand.

"AAAAAAAAHHH!" cried Saturn. An invisible hand squeezed the girl, lifting her up into the air. Saturn dangled in mid-air, her arms pinned to her sides, while her glaive clattered to the floor. Her legs fluttered beneath her while Saturn's features scrunched together in pain.

"LET HER GO!" Sailor Moon howled. Her hand went out and the Moon Scepter appeared in it. "Moon Princess Halation!"

Pink tendrils of energy shot from the Scepter directly at Melo as if shot from a gun. They passed through the barrier with ease and swirled around the man's body. Momentarily his concentration lapsed into a happy euphoria. Then Melo shook himself.

"Impressive," he smiled, then focused harder. The pink tendrils vaporized. Suddenly Sailor Moon reeled back as if struck. She crumpled to the floor, the Moon Scepter clattering away from her. Another invisible hand gripped her and held her aloft. "And now for the minor annoyances."

Ceres was grabbed next. The intense pressure on her chest and middle quickly had the senshi crying out in pain. Her mental feedback struck her vine. It stiffened and then fell away from the barrier. Vesta was snatched up next. In her elephant form, she trumpeted her anguish, then reverted to human form. Finally Juno was caught trying to back out of the entrance. She resisted the grasp of the invisible force until the pressure became too great, and then went limp.

"A useless show of force," Melo proclaimed. "Did you think I would allow you to wreck twenty years of work? Perhaps if you'd struck years ago, before I succeeded, you would have had some hope. But not now. You children are in over your heads."

"What are you doing to them?" Ceres goggled as she struggled in the grip of the unseen force.

"Harvesting them, I suppose," Melo responded. "After all, they all contain the seeds I planted.

"You're harvesting their psychic power?" Juno speculated. "They all have some sort of ESP level?"

"The seeds I planted," Melo nodded. "I spent years seducing women and impregnating them. I also worked for a time incognito in a maternity clinic in the poor section. Each time I came in contact with a conceived fetus, I would treat that fetus with a special enzyme I developed that would induce genetic alterations in that fetus. The enzyme would stimulate the DNA strands that developed psychic abilities. I then spent years developing this equipment, paid for by cyber-raids on corporate bank accounts, that could tap into that psychic energy and feed it to me, using Maria here as a conduit." He patted the girl on the head. Maria didn't respond.

"You experimented on your own children?" gasped Ceres.

"They hold no sentimental value to me," Melo responded. "In the beginning, it was the easiest way to gain access to fetal material. The enzyme would induce psychic growth in the brain cells, at the expense of other mental development. Most of the subjects were born with varying degrees of mental retardation. As I experimented with the dosage, I found I could increase the level of psychic ability by increasing the level of mental defectiveness in other areas. Maria here was my last subject. She's a suggestible mental vegetable, basically an organic robot. But she found the other subjects. She brought them to me with her psychic song. And she is the conduit through which their power flows to me."

"You did that to Palla-Palla!" growled Vesta as she strained against the telekinetic hand holding her aloft. "You did that to your own daughter? Your own children? YOU MONSTER!"

"I have no interest in what you think of me," Melo replied with utter disregard for the senshi. "I have dedicated my life to this project and I have succeeded."

"So now what?" Juno asked contemptuously.

"Now what?" Melo repeated, as the question perplexed him. "Now I implement my process on a nationwide basis. In as little as a generation's time, I will have replaced the entire underprivileged population of Brasilia with engineered psychic engines that can be used to generate telekinetic power to the general populace. It will be a revolution in energy production."

"Controlled by you!" snarled Vesta.

"Who better?" Melo asked.

Sailor Moon glanced at Sailor Saturn. She could see Saturn straining with her hand, trying to use her own rudimentary telekinesis to reclaim her glaive. She turned back to Melo.

"But can't you see how much you're hurting all these kids?" she asked. "They're not lab subjects for you to experiment on. They're people! They think and feel, just like you do!"

"Perhaps they do feel," Melo countered, "but they do not think as I do. They are savants, unable to care for themselves. Half of them barely comprehend language. Some of them have no concept of the real world. They were conceived as parts for my process, nothing more. Otherwise they would have been the latest generation of ballast that drags society down."

"That's so much elitist garbage!" Sailor Moon persisted. "I know Palla-Palla - - Athene! She's a healthy, vibrant, wonderful person! She may not be able to understand the complex methods of your process. Well, neither do I! That doesn't make us any less of a person! Intelligence is only one of the ways to measure humanity! Another is how much joy you take from life! How much joy you contribute to life! And she gives more than her share! What you're doing is wrong! Please stop this!"

"You speak as if I'm supposed to care about these things, or as if I'll be touched by your appeal," Melo replied. "Such sentiment doesn't interest me in the least."

"You're wasting your time, Sailor Moon!" Vesta barked. "You can't touch someone who doesn't have a soul! And anybody who could do this to another human being, let alone his own children, doesn't have a soul!"

"Metaphysics are the playground of the superstitious," Melo countered. "I see no further point in continuing this."

Melo was about to gesture with his hand, but stopped. He turned to Maria and seemed to listen to the vacant child. Saturn continued to strain mentally for her glaive while Sailor Moon tried to summon her Moon Scepter to her. Melo suddenly looked at Saturn.

"Does she?" Melo smiled. "How very interesting."

With that, Melo made a dismissive gesture with his hand. Sailor Moon was shot out of the manufacturing complex at tremendous speed. She traveled across the yard and down the street, squirming without success in the grip of the telekinetic hand. When it finally released her, momentum sent her skidding to a stop along the pavement of the street. The shock jarred her and it took several moments to recover. Her side hurt and her bare arms and legs were scuffed and smarting.

Dragging herself to a sitting position, Sailor Moon found Ceres to her right. Turning to her left, she found Vesta and Juno. All three were as battered and as bruised as she was.

"Saturn?" Sailor Moon said, looking behind her. Quickly her anxiety rose. She looked all around her, but no trace of Saturn could be found. As her senshi began to recover, Sailor Moon pulled herself to her feet and stared down the street at the gray building where they had been - - the building where Palla-Palla and nearly sixty others were held prisoner.

Their number now included Sailor Saturn.

Continued in Chapter 8


	8. Psychic Vampire

LEGACY

Chapter 8: "Psychic Vampire"

A Neo-Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

Sailor Saturn struggled mightily in the invisible grip of the telekinetic hand holding her. She saw the door to one of the clear cylinders opening like the jaw of a great beast seeking to swallow her whole. Desperation flooded through her slight frame. As she fought, her eyes locked with Maria's. The child's gaze was vacant and unfocused, as if she saw and felt and thought in another reality divorced from this one. But as they locked eyes, the assault on Saturn's mind increased. She could sense that Maria was trying to communicate with her mentally, that she was trying to seduce her into a docile state. It reminded her of the mental domination Mistress Nine subjected her to when she was younger. Feelings of panic rose in her, panic born of a nightmare being reenacted. She couldn't go through that again.

And without any warning, it was away. The psychic bolt of energy, akin to a knife thrust, shot forth without her knowledge or command. It headed straight for little Maria and pierced the child's forehead. Maria stiffened, then crumpled to the floor. Saturn felt the grip loosen around her. The pressure reduced enough so that she was able to wriggle her slight body loose from the grip and slide to the floor.

"Maria!" howled Abrahan Melo. He knelt down to the child and cradled her, softly rubbing along her neck with his hand.

Saturn went without hesitation for her glaive. She plucked the long-handled blade off the floor and pivoted, the glaive at the ready. When no attack immediately came from Melo, she turned and headed for the cylinders.

"STOP!" Melo called out. Saturn fully expected to hit another telekinetic barrier, but none came and she continued on.

As she was about to bring the blade down on the cable connecting two of the cylinders, her glaive stopped in mid-air. Pulling, Saturn realized that it was being held telekinetically. Glancing over her shoulder, Saturn saw that Maria was recovered enough to resume supplying Melo with telekinetic power. She pulled again, but realized she wasn't strong enough to pull it free.

"Stop resisting me," Saturn heard Melo say. Then she realized he hadn't spoke. She'd heard it telepathically. His words, combined with Maria's mental urging, momentarily weakened her will. Doubt crept into her mind.

Pivoting, Saturn jabbed up with her glaive into the invisible hand. The grip weakened enough for her to pull the blade free. Swinging it down and then up in a sweeping arc, Saturn struck where she believed the hand to be. The look of anguish on Melo's face told her she'd hit her target. Swinging her glaive to a ready position, Saturn turned back to the cylinders. If she could sever a connection, it should reduce the power flowing to the cylinder and make that mind unavailable for harvesting.

And possibly harm the person inside. That thought brought Saturn up short. She recalled earlier when Sailor Moon was stopped from attacking the cylinder that held Palla-Palla - - Melo said her attack might have harmed the victim as well as the technology holding her. Could she take the risk of harming one or more of the victims of this man's plan just to stop him?

Suddenly Saturn was blind-sided by a battering force. A telekinetic blast knocked her to the floor. Her glaive spun away as she tried to collect her senses. As she struggled to rise, Saturn could feel the hand closing around her again.

"SILENCE WALL!" she cried out desperately. The hand's pressure stopped against the force field around her. But the pressure continued, squeezing against her shield. Saturn strained to expand it, but quickly realized that she couldn't. It was all she could do to keep the shield from shattering under the relentless pressure of the hand.

"Give up," Saturn heard in her mind. "Stop resisting me. You have no hope of victory." And, ever-present underneath his words, was the will-sapping mental caress of Maria's mind. Saturn weakened for just a moment - - and the shield shattered. Saturn felt the hand close around her and feared she was done for.

As she neared the open cylinder, Saturn desperately tried to launch another mental bolt. But, as always, the moment she tried to cast one it wouldn't come. She looked first at the cylinder and then to Maria. Maria was the key. If she could be convinced to stop serving Melo, then his power would vanish. But it was hopeless. Maria had no mind to reason with. Melo's enzyme had destroyed her reasoning power.

But could it be restored? Galvanized into action by desperation, Saturn closed her eyes and slipped into the trance that allowed her to heal. Normally she would have to touch the person she wished to heal. But there was a chance that if she focused her power through the telekinetic waves holding her, it would funnel into Maria and heal the damage done by the enzyme. Saturn struggled to keep it up. If only healing didn't take so much out of her.

A sensation jarred her out of her trance. Saturn found herself in the cylinder. The door was closed. The waist and shoulder harnesses were locked around her. Telemetry sensors were stuck to her body. A mask was being applied telekinetically over her mouth and nose. Panicked, she looked over to her captors. Maria continued to stare vacantly, while Melo looked on with triumphant satisfaction.

The mask began to emit a sickly sweet gas Saturn recognized as a commercial anaesthetic used by hospitals. Her senses began to swim. Black seemed to ooze over her vision as she lost focus. It was like sinking into a black hole - - just like the times before when Mistress Nine possessed her.

"Not again," she thought as she drifted into oblivion.

Outside, Sailor Moon was racing toward the plant. Her remaining senshi followed desperately.

"Sailor Moon!" Juno called after her. "We need to have a plan first!"

"Saturn can't wait for a plan!" Sailor Moon cried.

"But if we just go charging in again, he's going to beat us just like he did last time!"

"To Hell with plans!" Vesta roared. "We keep trying! Succeed or die!"

"Yeah, well dying isn't going to help Palla-Palla or Saturn, now is it?" Juno shot back.

Unmindful of Juno's protests, Sailor Moon and Sailor Vesta ran up to the perimeter of the plant. The gate was still open. But when they tried to enter it, the two senshi ran headlong into an invisible barrier and were thrown back into the street. Ceres and Juno quickly moved to help them up.

"Makes sense that he wouldn't let anymore intruders in," Juno assessed.

"Maybe we can go over it," Ceres posed. She pulled out a pouch and tossed it near the barrier. "Floral Stimulation!"

Another vine sprang up out of the pouch of soil and began growing along the barrier, reaching up for the sun.

"Once it finds the top, my vine will grow over it and down to the surface," Ceres explained. "Then it can hoist us all up and over."

But the vine kept creeping upward. It began to angle toward the plant, but there didn't seem to be a top to the wall.

"It's a dome," Sailor Moon frowned. "We're not getting in that way."

"Well it has to be porous," Juno concluded. "Otherwise air couldn't get in and Melo would suffocate. Vesta . . .?"

"I can't become anything that small," Vesta shook her head. "I'd try burrowing under the fence, but that lot is paved and I can't burrow through that silicate paving material."

"Yeah, and silicates are water-resistant, so I can't erode it from below with a water stream," Juno scowled. "Looks like we're trumped."

"There has to be a way in!" cried Sailor Moon. "We can't just leave Saturn and Palla-Palla and all the others so Melo can suck their brain's out!"

A loud crash punctuated the pink senshi's statement. The four teens looked to the plant. A humanoid shape rose out of the roof of the plant, loudly rending the roofing materials. It extended thirty feet in the air before gaining its legs.

"What the Hell!" gasped Vesta.

"It's Doctor Melo!" Ceres cried. The gargantuan had turned to them and they could see the features of Abrahan Melo on its face. The giant took a step towards them

"It can't be! That thing is opaque!" Juno told them.

"Why not?" Vesta demanded. "It looks real enough to me!"

"The ground didn't shake when he stepped! Something that size would create a tremor if it impacted with the ground! It has size, but no mass! Is it - - some sort of mental manifestation?"

A second step brought the giant to the edge of the gate. The senshi waited and watched the vine Ceres had grown, ready to charge if the barrier dropped. But the giant passed through the barrier without effort, crushing the hopes of the senshi. After a moment's disappointment, Sailor Moon stuck out her hand and the Moon Scepter appeared.

"Moon Princess Halation!" she shouted. Once more pink tendrils of energy shot out of the scepter, speeding like bullets toward the giant representation of Abrahan Melo. They swirled around the mental projection's head like buzzing gnats. At once the giant stopped and tried to flinch away.

"You're affecting it! Pour it on, Princess!" Vesta shouted.

Again and again the giant flinched and waved its hands trying to swat the tendrils. Sailor Moon poured on the energy, trying to overcome the giant mental projection and, hopefully, Melo himself. But the giant wouldn't go down. She was having some small effect, but not enough. Anxiously the other senshi watched and hoped. But the longer the struggle went, the less likely a victory was coming. Finally Sailor Moon crumpled to her knees, supported by Ceres. The giant continued on toward the government plaza undaunted.

"It's too strong," gasped Sailor Moon. "I could feel Saturn's energy in there. Too strong. Too many minds to pacify. I'm sorry."

"Hey, at least you got its attention," Ceres offered. "That's more than we've been able to do."

"Maybe I can out-muscle it if I change into a Tyrannosaurus Rex?" Vesta suggested.

"No, we have to concentrate on getting Palla-Palla and Saturn and the others out of those tubes," Juno countered. "They're the source of his power. We free them and we pull the plug on him."

"But how do we get in?" demanded Vesta.

Her arm shaking, Sailor Moon brought up her senshi communicator. "I'm calling Aunt Rei," she wheezed. "Maybe she can do something."

* * *

Rei Hino found herself lying on a bed of velvet. Roses surrounded her. The bed was so soft to her touch that it gave her a feeling of inner peace. But the bed below the velvet was hard and unyielding. Rei felt she should rise and see why the bed was so hard. However, the priest found herself unable to rise. She put her hands up to feel for a barrier, for the entire room around her was black as pitch. Her hands pressed against something clear and smooth. This confused her at first. Then a feeling of immense dread flooded over her.

She was in a coffin. She was in a western-style coffin. Rei remembered them from an image she saw in her childhood. Her mother had taken her to see a western anime, "Snow White". She remembered the scene where Snow White was laid out in a coffin of glass after the old witch had poisoned her. It was a scene that had an eerie resonance for the child that day and seared itself into her brain because scant months later she saw her mother laid out on her bed and sleeping the sleep that one never woke from. And she recalled how her six year old mind thought how much her mother looked like Snow White. And how she begged her father to kiss her dear "Kaa-San" and wake her up. It was the last time she ever remembered her father being emotional.

And now she was in one, just like Snow White - - just like her mother. A primitive panic rose up in her breast as Rei anxiously pushed on the lid of the coffin. When it wouldn't budge, the priest began pounding on it, calling out for help. But no sound came out of her mouth. The coffin allowed no sound. Rei summoned her henshin stick and it appeared in her hand. But when she called out her transformation phrase, again nothing was audible. Once again she pushed on the lid. She had to get out. She couldn't wait for a handsome prince that would probably never come anyway or would probably never stay long enough to be of use.

Appearing out of the darkness on her right was Sailor Saturn. Rei's heart jumped. Suddenly there was hope for her. Then out of the darkness on her left was Palla-Palla. She and Saturn held hands and stared at her. Rei tried to ask for help, but once again she could make no sound. Frustrated, she pointed frantically to the lid.

"You can't stay in there," Saturn said forlornly. "You'll waste away to nothing."

"You can't come out," Palla-Palla told her, the girl equally forlorn. "You'll die."

Rei couldn't understand what they meant, though the menace of the situation was clear. As Rei tried to puzzle out what to do, the two teens just stared at her.

"We can get you out," Palla-Palla suddenly offered.

Rei frantically nodded.

"We don't know how," Saturn said.

Another sound began to fill the darkened chamber. It was a rhythmic sound, a single burst of sound at a controlled, regular interval. It began to sound like a heart monitor, or a heart beat itself. Rei wondered for a moment if it belonged to her mysterious captor, or if it was her own. Saturn and Palla-Palla continued to stare at her, sad and helpless.

"Help us, Sensei," Saturn asked.

"Show us how," Palla-Palla echoed.

And Rei was suddenly awake. The sheets around her were ordinary synthetic muslin, not satin. As she struggled to orient her mind, Rei noticed that there were no roses surrounding her. Reflexively she put her hand out above her. It didn't hit a glass coffin lid. The priest breathed a small sigh of relief.

And the rhythmic noise was her senshi communicator beeping. With strands of black hair falling into her face, Rei picked it up and engaged the device.

"Aunt Rei?" she heard Sailor Moon cry before she could focus on the anxious face on the communicator screen.

"Sailor Moon," Rei murmured before her head cleared. "What is it?"

"We found Palla-Palla! She's being held prisoner! They got Saturn, too, and they're behind a barrier of psychic energy! We can't get through! Help!"

"Send me the coordinates," Rei said, pulling herself out of bed. Her henshin stick appeared in her hand. "Mars Millennium Power Make Up!"

The transformation took hold in a moment and Sailor Mars was racing for the door.

"I'm on the way! Fill me in on what happened!"

As she hit street level, Sailor Mars was suddenly confronted with the giant psychic manifestation Sailor Moon told her about. The representation of a man towered three hundred feet into the air. Hover cars swerved out of the way and pedestrians pressed against buildings as the giant walked down the boulevard toward the government plaza. Mars' first thought was to attack. But Sailor Moon needed her help and she was the priority. Mars turned and ran down the street, once again cursing the fact that her costume had high heels.

The psychic manifestation reached the government plaza in three strides. It took a position in the center of the plaza. Police hover cars pulled up from all sides and surrounded the giant. Air cars hovered above it. From out of the cars, police appeared. They were armed with state of the art plasma energy weapons, rather than the standard issue blunted plastic projectile weapons used to control the population. Intermingled with the police air cars were surveillance drones employed by the broadcast media of Brasilia and the world media. They all jockeyed for the perfect view of the unfolding incident.

The giant spread its arms.

"Population of Sao Paolo!" it spoke, the words vibrating among the buildings of the plaza. "I am Abrahan Melo, Doctor of Physics and Chemistry, Universidade do Rio de Janeiro, Class of 2970. I am the man who was scorned and ridiculed by the science community of Brasilia. I am the man whose revolutionary discoveries were tossed aside because they could not be turned to a profit by little men with big bankrolls. I am the man who was shunned as a radical by a scientific community that cannot comprehend innovation." He looked around for affect. "Well, Sao Paolo, what is your verdict now?"

"This is the police," one of the air cars began to announce, but the giant held up its hand.

"You wish me to surrender," the giant said. "You will fire your weapons if I do not comply. That is what you were thinking."

The giant gestured. As if in answer, all the plasma weapons shorted out in a coordinated pyrotechnic show. The police holding the weapons quickly dropped them. With containment ruptured, the plasma cartridges broke and the plasma oozed out, burning holes into the street.

One of the air cars swooped in. The giant pointed to it. The air car began spinning out of control, then impacted into the side of a government office. Fuel exploded out, engulfing the entire floor until it was extinguished by chemical foam from the building's fire safety system. All of the other police air cars backed to safer altitudes.

"I can sense the thoughts of you all," the giant announced. "You fear me. You fear for your lives. You wonder what I want."

The giant gestured to the surveillance drones hovering around him. An invisible force drew them all toward the giant. It looked directly at them.

"I want the recognition due me," the giant said. "And I want the head of the Brasilia Health and Safety Ministry and all of his subordinates. There are going to be some changes made and I need them to implement those changes."

The giant turned and gestured to the government office building behind it. It extended its hand and then pressed down. The building compressed like an accordian, sending out a dense cloud of dust. The giant turned back to the surveillance drones.

"Bring them to me or I'll come get them."

Continued in Chapter 9


	9. Old Wounds

LEGACY

Chapter 9: "Old Wounds"

A Neo-Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

"Hello?" Saturn called out into the darkness.

Maybe she didn't actually call out. Maybe she just thought it. It was hard to tell. She couldn't see her mouth. She couldn't see anything. She couldn't hear anything, or move or feel. She couldn't do anything. The darkness had enveloped her, swallowed her up.

"Is anybody there?"

Just like before.

"Please! Is anybody there?"

Just like before, when Mistress Nine would claim her body and sink her mind into an oblivion of black. She never lost consciousness when it happened. She never remembered it, because it was too terrible to remember. But her memories of before came flooding back now, because it was happening again.

"Please, someone answer me!"

It was like being buried alive. The darkness closed in around her, threatening to suffocate her. She couldn't see anything, not even her hand in front of her face. For all she knew, Saturn had no hand. She had no body. She was nothing but a disembodied consciousness, forever alone, forever adrift in a sea of nothing.

"Please . . ."

Before, the only thing that allowed her to reassert control of her body was the weakness of Mistress Nine. Back then, Mistress Nine clung to life by a thread. If she hadn't found sanctuary in Hotaru's young, frail body, the entity would have died. She only sustained herself by feeding off of Hotaru like a parasite, and off the crystal hearts her father - - no, the thing that possessed her father - - would offer up. But it would never last. Mistress Nine would burn through them like a hungry flame and then wither, allowing Hotaru to regain control and repress the memories out of self-defense.

"All you have to do is wait," Saturn said or whispered or thought. "She'll grow weak. She'll get tired and you can come to the surface again."

Unless she didn't. Unless it was like the final time, when the proximity of the Grail gave Mistress Nine enough strength to shove Hotaru down and keep her down. If it was like that, she was dead. She would have died the other time if not for the shining light of Sailor Moon, that single ray of silver light that gave her hope, that gave her the strength to pull herself up bodily out of the darkness.

"Sailor Moon?" she called out. There was nothing. Maybe she had used the wrong name. Sailor Moon was Queen Serenity now. "Queen Serenity?"

The silence roared in her ears, if she even still had ears. The darkness continued to envelope her. Claustrophobia rose up once more from the back of her throat.

"Help me!"

There was nothing. There would never be anything ever again. She was buried forever in this tomb, doomed to feel the life energy be sucked out of her for the rest of time.

"Please help me!"

"Please," came another voice. Saturn stopped and listened, fearful that she had gone mad and imagined it. Had it been her own voice? Was someone else here?

"Help me," came the voice again and Saturn knew she wasn't alone.

"Who are you?" Saturn exclaimed desperately.

"Who," the voice repeated, tentative and small, "are you?"

"Where are you?" Saturn tried again. "Please! Please help me!"

"Please help me," the voice repeated again.

Saturn felt herself shuddering with tears emotionally. Physically she wasn't sure if she still had tears to shed. The faint hope that the voice provided was dashed. A tremendous sense of weakness flooded over Saturn. She didn't know if it was from lack of hope or from some entity draining her like Mistress Nine used to do. After a moment of consideration, Saturn concluded that it didn't really matter.

"PLEASE!" she wailed with no voice. "I HAVE TO GET OUT!"

The voice Saturn heard drew back from the violent waves of emotion, fearful of being overwhelmed. It didn't understand why this assault was happening. It didn't understand much of anything. Only contact with the other, before she descended into panic and despair, gave it a language to respond with. Before, it had been unaware of anything other than the Voice of God that spoke to it and told it what to do. The Voice filled her mind with thoughts, thoughts it was incapable of generating on its own.

No, that wasn't right. That was before. It still heard the Voice, but there were other thoughts now. Contacting the other was a thought, but it didn't come from the Voice. The words hadn't come from the Voice, the words "please help me" and "who are you". They came from the other. It wondered for a moment about the word: other. If there was one "other", could there be another?

"Is anyone there?" it thought, remembering the words the other had first used to establish contact. And it waited, because that's what it did until the Voice spoke.

"Palla-Palla is here," a voice came from the darkness. "Who are you?"

"Who," it responded tentatively, "are you?"

"Palla-Palla," the voice responded. "Who are you?"

"Palla-Palla," it repeated.

"No, Palla-Palla is Palla-Palla. What's your name?"

"Name?" it asked.

"What do people call you?"

"People?" it asked, mystified. It thought. "The Voice calls me Maria."

"Palla-Palla is pleased to know you, Miss Maria Ma'am."

"Maria is pleased to know you," it repeated, "Miss Palla-Palla Ma'am. Do you remember before?"

"Before what?"

"Before Maria met the other."

"What other?" There was a moment of silence. "That's Miss Saturn Ma'am! She seems very upset. Miss Saturn Ma'am, please! Please don't be so frightened!"

"I HAVE TO GET OUT I HAVE TO GET OUT I HAVE TO GET OUT I HAVE TO GET OUT I HAVE TO GET OUT I HAVE TO GET OUT I HAVE TO GET OUT I HAVE TO GET OUT I HAVE TO GET OUT," they heard Saturn think.

"Poor Miss Saturn Ma'am is so scared," Palla-Palla thought. "She's going to break out of this place. Palla-Palla hopes she doesn't hurt herself."

"The other will cease," Maria responded.

"Cease? What do you mean?"

"She will," Maria explained as best it could, "no longer be."

"She'll die?"

"She will no longer be."

"Why?"

"We are all," and Maria stopped and searched all the minds available to her to learn the concept for what she wanted to say, "linked. The machines keep you alive. Without the machines, you'll die."

"You're connected to the machine, too?"

Maria thought. "No."

"Can you turn off the machine so it doesn't hurt us?"

"No."

There was silence.

"Palla-Palla wishes Ves-Ves was here."

* * *

The gathered crowd looked on in horror at the remains of what had once been a government office building. So did the people watching on vid-stream. So, too, would eighty-six percent of the world's population in a matter of minutes. The giant standing among the crowd in Sao Paolo's Government Plaza had just flattened it with its hand. The giant, actually a thought projection of Abrahan Melo, turned and surveyed the reaction of the crowd cowering around him. To Melo, nestled safe and unseen in the core of the thought projection, it was a satisfying feeling.

"Bring them quickly!" the giant roared. "I will not stand here all day."

"Do not harm anyone else," one of the police called to him from a voice-amplification device. "We can negotiate . . ."

"There is nothing to negotiate!" the giant roared. Using telekinesis, the giant slammed its unreal fist into the side of another wing of the office complex. A hole thirty-two feet in diameter blew open, raining debris into the offices and anyone unlucky enough to still be in them. "I am in control here! This is only a fraction of . . ."

And the giant stopped. It seemed to see a vision and it didn't like what it saw. Abruptly, the giant took off down the boulevard in a run. Everybody watched him, perplexed by the sudden change in the situation. Several police jumped into their hover cars and whirred off down the boulevard in pursuit. Surveillance drones sped off after them, determined to keep the world informed. Others lingered to see if they could help anyone trapped in the demolished office building.

Outside Melo's complex, four senshi anxiously awaited the arrival of Sailor Mars.

"What's taking her so long?" Vesta fumed impatiently.

"She can't fly, Vesta," Juno reminded her. "And she can only run so fast. She's not like you."

"Palla-Palla might be dying in there!" Vesta returned fire. "And if she does die, that Melo character better find the deepest hole he can crawl in . . .!" Vesta felt a hand close on her shoulder and whirled. She found Sailor Moon looking at her.

"If that happens," Sailor Moon said, "we can't go off looking for vengeance. That's not the way of a Sailor Senshi."

"TO HELL WITH THAT!" bellowed Vesta. "Palla-Palla is family!"

"And Saturn is my best friend," Sailor Moon reminded her. "There's nobody else in the world I'm closer to, except Helios. And if she dies - - well, I don't even want to think about it. But vengeance doesn't solve anything."

"That's your mom talking!" Vesta sneered.

"Well, she's right!" Sailor Moon replied defiantly. "Vengeance won't bring the dead back. It won't make you feel better. It just breeds more hate. And if you don't understand that, you don't understand being a senshi."

"Well if Palla-Palla dies, I won't give a damn about being a senshi!"

"Vesta!" Juno interjected. "Stop saying things you're going to regret. And stop getting angry and use your head."

Vesta's lips pressed into a thin line. Everyone could see she was struggling not to explode, for Juno had gotten through to her. Fortunately for everyone, at that moment Sailor Mars was spotted running up.

"Is this it?" Mars asked, puffing in between words.

"Yeah," Sailor Moon nodded. "We can't get over, under or through it."

Mars put out a gloved hand until she met the barrier. Her hand rested against it for a moment.

"It's psychic energy," Mars said.

"Yeah, Dr. Melo is leeching it from Saturn and Palla-Palla," Ceres told her.

"And a whole room full of others, apparently," Juno added.

"Yes, I can feel their auras mixed in," Mars murmured. "Saturn in particular. Feels like she's in a full blown panic."

Without another word, Mars retreated a step. From out of nowhere, she produced one of her wards and pressed it to her forehead. Sailor Moon grinned confidently as the others looked on in awe. Mars softly chanted the sutra that charged the ward, and then let fly. The ward rocketed through the air with the speed of a bullet and struck the barrier.

At the point where it struck, flames began to crackle. Everyone was surprised by this, but they were even more surprised when they realized that the flames weren't real. Ceres' vine, still pressed against the barrier, showed no effects of the nearby flame. Nor was there any smoke or heat radiated. Instead, the end of the ward began to flutter in the currents of displaced air. The skirts of the senshi and their hair began to flutter as well.

And just like that, the ward fluttered to the pavement. Similarly the vine, bereft of support, fell inward before its stalk supported it.

"GO!" Mars barked.

Instantly Vesta responded, racing through the gate. Sailor Moon and Juno were right behind her, with Ceres bringing up the rear. Mars was about to follow, but a feeling stopped her. The elder senshi turned and looked down the street. There she saw the giant from earlier rapidly approaching. It didn't look happy.

"Mars!" Sailor Mars said, jamming her hand to her side and splaying her fingers. "Flame Sniper!"

On command, the flaming bow and arrow formed in her hands. With practiced proficiency, Sailor Mars brought the bow up and aimed the arrow at the on-coming giant. Without any thought to mercy, she let the arrow fly. It cleaved the air straight and true, but before it could strike the giant's heart, its hand came up and brushed the arrow away without injury.

"GET AWAY FROM THERE!" the giant roared. Sailor Mars was unmoved.

"That's some battle aura you have there," Mars said, producing another one of her wards. "Even if you stole most of it! Well let's see just how strong it is!"

After the charging sutra, Mars let fly. The ward sped through the air, jumped to avoid a defensive swat from the giant, and slapped onto its forehead, directly between the eyes. The giant pulled back as if struck across the face. It began clawing at its face, trying to remove the ward.

"He is strong!" Mars thought, a dozen wards appearing in her hand. "It's probably Saturn's energy helping him." Charging the wards, she leaped into the air to throw.

Out of nowhere, the giant struck blindly and struck true, knocking Mars out of the air. The senshi fell to the pavement hard and rolled to a painful stop. Though the giant continued to flail at the ward, Mars knew it wouldn't stand up to the psychic beating it was taking. She had to move now to take him down. But first she had to find the strength to move.

As the senshi burst in, they all saw Maria standing vacantly next to the containment chambers. All the prisoners slept peacefully, except one. Sailor Saturn slept, but not peacefully. Perspiration covered the senshi and her slim body fidgeted, transmitting her anxiety to anyone with eyes.

"Someone comes!" Maria thought to Palla-Palla and Saturn.

"I HAVE TO GET OUT I HAVE TO GET OUT I HAVE TO GET OUT I HAVE TO GET OUT I HAVE TO GET OUT I HAVE TO GET OUT I HAVE TO GET OUT I HAVE TO GET OUT I HAVE TO GET OUT," they heard Saturn think.

"Who is it? Can you let me see?" Palla-Palla asked with her thoughts.

Instantly the teen found herself seeing through Maria's eyes. In the background of her mind, she could hear the anxious rumblings of other thoughts. The others were achieving the level of semi-dream state that Palla-Palla and Saturn were on and the combination of their plight and Saturn's panic were unsettling everyone else.

"I'm afraid!" Maria thought. "They'll hurt me!"

"Vesta!" Palla-Palla exclaimed in her mind. "Don't be afraid, Miss Maria Ma'am! Vesta is Palla-Palla's sister! She won't hurt you!"

In the waking world, the senshi moved forward, their intent clear: to break open the containment chambers and free the captives.

"Vesta, no!" Palla-Palla thought.

Suddenly, Vesta pulled up. She bent over and clutched her head. That brought everyone else up short.

"Vesta?" Ceres inquired.

"It's Palla-Palla!" Vesta said excitedly. "She's communicating with me!" The senshi's features darkened. "She says we can't bust up those tubes! She says - - if we disrupt the life support system, they'll die!"

"Well what are we going to do?" Sailor Moon exclaimed. "Just look at Saturn! We've got to get her out of there soon!"

"There's got to be some way to safely disengage that life support system and open the tubes up," Juno reasoned. She spotted a control panel and ran over. Ceres and Sailor Moon were quickly behind her. "This looks like the controls."

"Can you shut it off?" Ceres asked.

"I," Juno replied, her brow furrowed. "I can guess? Sailor Moon?" and she turned to their acknowledged leader.

"Some of it looks familiar," Sailor Moon scowled. "But not enough of it." Suddenly she pulled out her senshi communicator. "Well, there's no sense in guessing." After a moment, she got through. Juno and Ceres could see Ami Mizuno on the communicator screen. "Aunt Ami, we have a situation here. Can you help?"

While Sailor Moon filled Ami in, turning her communicator toward the control panel so Ami could look at it, Vesta hovered near Maria and the containment cylinders.

"Hold on," Vesta mentally told Palla-Palla through their psychic link. "They're trying to get you guys out safely. We won't let you get hurt."

"Thank you, Vesta," Palla-Palla replied. "But please hurry. Miss Saturn Ma'am is so very scared! Palla-Palla is afraid that she'll hurt herself!"

"Aunt Ami?" Sailor Moon nudged anxiously.

"This is a rather sophisticated design," Ami said. She was still in her nightgown, the sleep finally rubbed from her eyes. Everyone could just make out Makoto hovering in the background. "Very radical, too. But if it follows a logical pattern, the shutdown sequence should be . . ."

"Everyone!" bellowed Vesta suddenly. "Trouble!"

The three senshi turned to Vesta. Saturn's containment chamber was emitting an intense violet-white light. Fissures had appeared on the cylinder wall. The connected electronics were shaking.

"I think she's gonna blow!" yelled Vesta.

Continued in Chapter 10


	10. Panic Attack

LEGACY

Chapter 10: "Panic Attack"

A Neo-Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

"Everyone!" bellowed Vesta suddenly. "Trouble!"

The three senshi turned to Vesta. Saturn's containment chamber was emitting an intense violet-white light. Fissures had appeared on the cylinder wall. The connected electronics were shaking.

"I think she's gonna blow!" yelled Vesta.

Vesta's words were no sooner out than the crystalline shell of the containment chamber exploded outward. Vesta ducked away, but still caught several pieces of flying shrapnel. Several others embedded in surrounding cylinders, including the one that contained Palla-Palla. Fissures began to spider-web out from the embedded fragments.

Eerily, Maria remained untouched. Several fragments lay at her feet at unnatural angles, as if they had been deflected.

"Ves?" Ceres cried out anxiously.

"I'M ALL RIGHT!" Vesta bellowed angrily. She reached down and jerked a crystal fragment out of her hip. "Get that thing shut down so we can help Palla-Palla!"

Sailor Moon, though, was fixated on Sailor Saturn. Saturn's body glowed with a harsh violet-white light, so much so that only the outlines of her features and frame could be distinguished. Saturn didn't seem conscious, but her body began to rise up out of the broken cylinder anyway. A chill ran down the pink senshi's spine.

"There's a monitor reacting!" Juno exclaimed. "I think the life-support system has been compromised!" She looked over her shoulder when Sailor Moon didn't react. "Sailor Moon!"

As Saturn rose up into the air, the air in the room began to swirl. At first it was only noticeable. But as Sailor Moon watched, transfixed with growing alarm, the swirling air increased in intensity. Skirts began to blow. Hair billowed. Soon unanchored material in the room was lifted up and swirled around Saturn and the cyclone her runaway terror had whipped up through her psychic power. Suddenly a psychic dagger launched and broke a hole in the wall.

"Damn it!" Juno cursed. She programmed her senshi communicator and patched into the connection Sailor Moon had with Ami Mizuno. "Mizuno-Sensei! I think the life-support system has been damaged!" She turned her communicator to the control panel.

"You're correct!" Ami reported. "You have to try to shut the system down! If it crashes, all of the connected people will go into shock and die! I'll talk you through it as best I can, but you need to act immediately!"

Outside, Sailor Mars struggled to her knees. As she strained, she expected at any moment another attack from the psychic giant that Abrahan Melo had created. So far she had been lucky and the attack hadn't come. If she could just regain her feet, she might have a chance.

Suddenly an overwhelming wave of psychic energy washed over her like a tidal wave. Mars teetered backwards and ended up sitting on the pavement. Her senses identified the wave as Saturn's. But she'd never sensed anything remotely as powerful as this from Saturn. Not since the day Mars and her fellow senshi had set up the barrier around Infinity Academy . . .

"Gods," Mars whispered in growing horror.

She looked up. Melo was to her left, just inside the fence. He'd apparently headed for the building rather than finish her off. Even as she focused on him, Mars could see the psychic giant diminishing, receding back into him. Melo hovered over the ground for a few feet, held aloft by the rapidly diminishing giant, then softly touched the silicate pavement. Without any strength to stand, the man crumpled to the pavement.

An explosion of windows from the building drew Mars' attention. The psychic storm had spawned a real one and the increased air pressure had blown out all the windows. Moments later the door was next, followed in rapid succession by the roof. Through the now open doorway, Mars could see a glowing figure levitating limply in the air, the eye of the maelstrom. She didn't have to see the barely recognizable features to know it was Saturn. Vesta stood below, struggling not to be swept away by the cyclone. The girl, Maria, was also there, but she seemed barely affected. Mars' attention drew up to the sky. Ominous dark clouds began to collect in the sky. The wind began to pick up.

"In this state, she could destroy everything," Mars murmured to herself. The senshi struggled to her feet, ignoring the pain in her legs and her side.

"Fauna Assimilation! Dragon!" Sailor Vesta called out. While dragons didn't exist on Earth, Vesta could still draw on her power to become one after facing one on the distant planet of Cartaghos. The senshi's body lengthened and enlarged. Her skin became gray and scaly while wings sprouted out of her back until she towered thirty feet in the air.

"Vesta, what are you doing?" Sailor Moon cried.

"Somebody's got to contain her before she wrecks the place and kills everybody!" the dragon snarled. It bent down to lunge into the air.

"No!" Sailor Moon called out. Vesta stopped and looked at her. The Princess was summoning the Moon Scepter. "I'll do it. I may be the only one who can. Moon Princess Halation!"

A concentrated beam of pink tendrils lanced out toward Saturn. When the beam reached her, it split into a dozen tendrils, each tendril wrapping around Sailor Saturn. They caressed her head and body, trying to calm the terrorized senshi and bring her under control so she could bring her massive power under control. Vesta watched for a few seconds, still in dragon form in case she was needed. When the situation didn't immediately resolve itself, she glanced back at Sailor Moon.

The incredible strain on the pink senshi's face did not fill Vesta with confidence.

"Maria," Palla-Palla thought. "What's happening? Palla-Palla doesn't feel good."

"The other broke free," Maria replied with her thoughts. "It damaged the tubes."

"Is Palla-Palla going to die?"

"I," Maria began hesitantly. "I don't know. I don't want you to die. I don't want the other to die. You're the only ones I've ever talked to other than the father."

"That man is your father?" Palla-Palla asked weakly.

"Yes."

"He's Palla-Palla's father, too. That means you and Palla-Palla are sisters!"

"Sisters," Maria thought. Palla-Palla could sense the girl turning the concept over in her mind. She sensed the wonder in the girl's brain over so many different new concepts that had suddenly been allowed to flood into her brain.

"Palla-Palla feels so weak," Palla-Palla thought. "It was good to know you, Maria. Palla-Palla is happy she found another sister."

Juno and Ceres were still at the control panel. Ceres watched with mounting anxiety as Juno pressed crystal control studs in the panel according to the sequence Ami Mizuno was dictating.

"Juno?" Ceres asked, for while Juno was tapping out sequences at a frantic pace, the senshi got the sense that it wasn't fast enough.

"I'm trying!" Juno hissed as she continued to work the panel. "That bastard Melo encrypted the panel! I hit a failsafe encryption after every command string!"

Ceres looked to Palla-Palla's tube. The cracks in the tube were spreading. Palla-Palla's head was slumped forward.

Through the door, Sailor Mars staggered into the room. Her eyes scanned from right to left, taking in the situation and immediately calculating the most immediate threat. Though her side was killing her and the psychic bombardment from Saturn gave her a migraine, Mars steadied herself against the door frame and produced one of her wards. She saw what Sailor Moon was trying to do. She knew her ward would do little to help. But if it could gain Sailor Moon that one little inch that she needed, then it was worth it. The ward was charged and Mars flung it at Sailor Saturn.

As it flew, unaffected by the cyclonic winds inside the plant, Mars watched it. She could see the edges of the sacred ward begin to brown and curl. It wasn't a good sign. Saturn's psychic power was affecting it. Prudence told the senshi to produce another one. But as she pressed it to her forehead, the first ward suddenly blackened and curled. Mars flew backward, struck by the psychic feedback from the ward's destruction. She lay on the silicate pavement outside of the plant, clutching her head and trying to suppress the wave of dizziness enveloping her.

Vesta saw all of this. She looked back at Sailor Moon and found the Princess's features twisted in agony. Perspiration coated her skin and her arms shook from the rigid manner in which she held the Moon Scepter. But pink energy still flowed from her to Saturn.

"Hotaru?" Sailor Moon thought, mentally reaching out to her friend through her crystal, through the Moon Scepter. "Hotaru, please! Come back! Come back to us! Everything's all right now! Hotaru, if you keep going like this, your heart condition could flare up! Hotaru, come back to the light, please!"

Juno continued to work on disengaging the life-support system and opening the containment tubes. She tried to keep her concentration on Ami's instructions and block out everything else that was occurring around her. As such, she heard Ceres speak, but didn't really hear what she said.

"Juno!" Ceres repeated. "That kid is doing something!"

Vesta heard and turned. Maria still stood motionless, still stared out at nothing in particular. But her black hair had fanned out from her small body and there was a faint, eerie green glow to her. Vesta's first thought was to attack, despite Maria's obvious physical disadvantage. But something stopped her for a moment. Then Palla-Palla's containment cylinder began to take on the same green glow.

"Palla-Palla doesn't feel so weak anymore," Palla-Palla thought to Maria. "Are you helping Palla-Palla, Maria?"

"I don't want you to die," Maria thought back. "I've never had a sister before. I like having a sister. So I wished for you to live."

"Are the others all right? They're our brothers and sisters, too."

"They are?"

Ceres and Vesta saw all of the containment tubes take on the same green glow.

"Are you helping everyone?" Palla-Palla thought.

"I'm trying," Maria said and Palla-Palla sensed distress. "It's hard."

"Just do your best. Usagi-Mama told Palla-Palla once that all a person can do is their best. Palla-Palla will understand if you can't do it, so long as you do your best."

"I'll try," Maria answered.

Back at the control panel, Juno worked feverishly as Ceres watched her and Ami watched from the communicator.

"This should be the last sequence," Ami advised her. "You're doing fine, Juno."

"Another encryption!" Juno fumed. "This guy must have been the most paranoid man in the world!"

"He seems to have been quite protective of the project," Ami said. Through the communicator, she was receiving the encryption and using her senshi computer to break it in record time. "It must have been very important to him."

"Obviously more important to him than his own children," Ceres remarked. "How does someone do that to someone they're supposed to lo . . ." The last word caught in Ceres' throat as she remembered her recent history with Gallan.

"That's it!" Juno exclaimed as a command menu popped up on the screen. Quickly she engaged the proper sub-program. She and Ceres, and Vesta off in the distance, turned to the containment cylinders. The collars around the necks of the victims opened, as did the waist belts. They retracted on the arms they were connected to. Hatches on the cylinders opened, hissing with equalized air pressure. All of the prisoners slumped in their cylinders.

Vesta transformed back into her senshi form as she ran for Palla-Palla's cylinder. Already damaged, the hatch flew to pieces as Vesta ripped it open and pulled Palla-Palla out.

"She's alive!" Vesta called over, yelling to be heard amid the cyclone that still battered everyone in the room. "She's pretty groggy! Is that normal?"

Juno looked to the communicator. "I would imagine so," Ami told her. "But you really should have a doctor look at her there."

"Yeah, we'll do that," Juno smiled gratefully.

"If Saturn doesn't kill us all first," Ceres added nervously.

Punctuating the comment, Sailor Moon sank to one knee. She was still pouring every ounce of pink energy she could muster into Sailor Saturn, trying to pull the senshi back to reality and rein in her psychic panic. The strain was evident everywhere, from her expression to her body language. The others wanted to help, but they knew they could do nothing. Saturn was out of their league and if Sailor Moon couldn't pull her back, none of them could.

"Hotaru!" Sailor Moon mentally called again. "Hotaru, it's me! Usa!"

Nothing. Sailor Moon continued her Halation in spite of the toll it was taking on her.

"Hotaru! Please, Hotaru, wake up! You don't have to be afraid anymore! I'm here! I've got you!"

Nothing.

"Hotaru, please!"

Nothing - - at first.

"Usa?"

And in her mind, for the first time, Sailor Moon could see Hotaru's image. She saw a violet-white light in Hotaru's shape that seemed to be Hotaru's psychic essence. And, remarkably, she saw her own essence, a pink-white light in her own shape. It had to be her own shape, because nobody else wore rabbit-ear odangos like she did. Hotaru's essence was in a fetal ball, cowering in whatever psychic plane they were both on. It timidly looked up at her, not daring to believe that she was no longer alone. Sailor Moon could see in her mind's eye pink tendrils gently swirling around Hotaru's essence. It gave the young princess a feeling of great pride.

Her essence held out her arms, open and inviting, to poor Hotaru. The features on Hotaru's essence began to tremble, like she was about to cry. Hotaru's essence scrambled to its feet and ran to Usa, ran as if hungry wolves were nipping at its heels. The essence got near enough and lunged into the arms of Usa's essence, holding on lest it be torn away.

"Oh, Usa!" Sailor Moon felt the essence say. "Oh I was so scared! Please say you're real! Please say you're not a hallucination!"

"I'm real, Hotaru," Sailor Moon thought back. "You're safe now. It's all over."

In the waking world, Sailor Saturn opened her eyes timidly. She lay on the cold floor of the factory complex Dr. Melo had converted. At her feet, Juno and Ceres were knelt down, looking at her hopefully. She glanced to her right. Vesta was there, holding on to Palla-Palla. They were both looking at her with guarded anticipation. A hand touched her shoulder and she flinched, but it was only Sailor Mars, above and to her right. Searching, momentarily frantic, Saturn looked around. When she found it was Sailor Moon cradling her on her knees behind her, a timid smile crept onto her face.

"You OK?" Sailor Moon wheezed. The exertion was evident on her face and strands of pink hair dangled in her eyes. Suddenly Saturn felt her eyes flood.

"I am now!" Saturn wailed and hugged her best friend in the entire universe.

Continued in Chapter 11


	11. Plan B

LEGACY

Chapter 11: "Plan B"

A Neo-Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

The Sao Paulo police had arrived. They had been in pursuit of the psychic giant created by Abrahan Melo that had ravaged the government plaza. What they found was something out of a monster vid. A seemingly abandoned factory filled with electronics, computers and sixty containment cylinders stood before them. Huddled in the room were fifty-six youth, ranging in age from eight to eighteen. They were confused, frightened, and suffered from varying levels of mental retardation. The younger the victim, the more severe the retardation.

Also there was a dark-haired woman and six teens, each dressed in a sailor tunic and short skirt, except for a girl with blue hair. She seemed more like the others. Their first move was to question the only adult in the room. However, Sailor Mars didn't speak Portuguese and her translator had been damaged in the battle. Sailor Juno was quickly brought in as an interpreter and explanations were made.

"Typical cops," scowled Vesta as she hovered protectively around Palla-Palla. "Always there when you don't need them, never there when you do."

"At least it's over," Ceres replied.

She glanced over at Sailor Moon and Sailor Saturn. Saturn was looking very morose, as if she felt shamed by the entire incident. Ceres could sympathize - - up to a point. Being a senshi was dangerous, and Ceres always looked upon it as a duty rather than an avocation, unlike Vesta. She accepted the danger, even though she didn't like it. But it made her feel uneasy that Saturn could crack the way she did. Because if someone as powerful as Saturn could crack under the pressure, what did that mean for her?

"Feeling better, Palla-Palla?" Ceres asked.

"Yes, Ceres," Palla-Palla said softly. "But Palla-Palla doesn't understand something. Please forgive her for not being smart."

"What don't you understand?"

"Mister Melo Sir is Palla-Palla's daddy, right? Why did he try to hurt Palla-Palla and all of his other kiddies?" She looked down glumly. "Palla-Palla's mommy and daddy both hate her."

Right there, Ceres felt some of the rage she saw in Vesta's face.

"Palla-Palla," Ceres offered gently, "it's not you. Don't ever think you're the reason for this. It's just - - well, some people in this world - - aren't worthy of the love we give them. They're weak and selfish and sometimes they can't be strong enough to overcome that - - and be a kid's mom and dad. They don't deserve the love they get from their - - kids." Suddenly Ceres realized a tear was trickling down her face.

"Listen to what she's saying," Vesta rumbled, her hands on Palla-Palla's shoulders. "For once she's making sense."

"Palla-Palla believes you," Palla-Palla told Ceres. "And she's sorry she made you cry."

"It's OK," Ceres grinned through her melancholy. "You've got more reason to cry than I do anyway."

"Palla-Palla should tell Maria that, so she doesn't cry," Palla-Palla proclaimed. The teen looked around. "Where did Maria go?"

Alerted, Vesta and Ceres scanned the room. Maria was gone.

"Melo's gone, too," Rei scowled as she walked the six teens back to the hotel. EMS technicians had checked out all the victims. Social Services had taken them in, to work the functional ones back into their societal niche and to institutionalize the ones who couldn't function on their own. The police had finished their questioning. Rei had filled Ami in to ease her and Makoto's minds.

"You suppose she went with him?" Jun asked.

"That would be my bet," Vesta grumbled. "She didn't look like she could do much for herself."

"But Maria is much better than she was," Palla-Palla protested. "She can think now. She talked to Palla-Palla when Palla-Palla was in the tube."

"Then why does she let that guy boss her around?" Cere asked. "Can't she tell what a creep he is?"

"Maria hasn't been able to think for very long," Palla-Palla informed them. "When Miss Saturn-Ma'am touched Maria with her head, she made Maria's head better."

"Hotaru?" Usa asked her friend.

"I remember trying to use my healing ability to undo some of the retardation," Hotaru whispered. "I didn't think it had worked."

"Palla-Palla, are you sure about that?" Rei asked.

"Sure about what?" Palla-Palla replied blankly. Everybody groaned.

"That's our Palla-Palla," chuckled Cere. "Mind like a rusty trap."

"So how do we track this guy down?" Ves inquired.

"We have Palla-Palla and Hotaru back," Rei said. "This is a local matter."

"Aunt Rei!" Usa protested. "We can't just let this guy get away! What if he does it again?"

The others looked at her expectantly - - except Hotaru.

"Well," Rei hesitated. "We're certainly not doing anything now. Most of us have been up almost twenty-four hours and we're all dead tired. And DON'T any of you tell me you're not. We'll go back to the hotel, get some sleep, and decide when we wake up. Who knows, the police may have caught him by that time."

"Yeah, right," muttered Ves.

It was a somber walk back to the hotel. Palla-Palla had lapsed into a troubled silence that matched Hotaru's mood. Usa had made an effort to lift Hotaru's spirits, but the shame the girl felt wouldn't be broken. The others were too tired and too horrified by everything they'd witnessed to even make the effort. By the end of the mile hike, all the senshi were privately ready to concede Rei's assertion that they were exhausted.

"HEY, VANESSA!" everyone heard a stranger bellow. When Ves turned to the shout, Usa and Rei reacted with surprise. They all saw a local girl waving to them from across the street. Ves recognized it was Sancha calling her.

"You guys go on," Ves said, heading across the street. "I got something to do."

"Who is that?" Rei wondered. "Ves-Ves seems to know her."

"Probably one of her hoodlum friends she used to run around with," snorted Cere. "I'm going back to the hotel."

"Vanessa?" Usa repeated as the group moved to join them. "That's a beautiful name. Why does she go by Ves?"

"Ves is a pretty informal person," chuckled Jun. "She always said 'Vanessa' sounded stuck up."

Ves joined Sancha on the other side of the street. The teen seemed happy to see her again.

"Hey, Ves, did you find your sister?" Sancha asked.

"Yeah," Ves nodded happily. Then she darkened. "Found her dad, too. He was that guy we saw watching the hotel."

"No lie? Wow. Was he as wrong as we thought?"

"Even worse." Sancha could see her friend boiling silently. It brought back memories of sitting on walls, eating stolen food and commiserating about their hellish family lives.

"What is it, Ves?" Sancha asked. Ves shot her a curious look. "He did something to her, didn't he?"

Ves made a face laden with disgust. "He's why she's retarded," Ves replied through tight lips. Sancha gaped in surprise. "He's some sort of doctor. He got her mom pregnant, then did something to her to make her retarded."

"No," Sancha gasped.

"And she's not the only one!" Ves added angrily. "When we caught up to him, he had fifty-some kids just like her! He'd done it to all of them!"

"Did you deal with him?" Sancha demanded.

"No. He got away. And he got away with that little girl we saw him with, too."

"He seduced fifty-some women?" Sancha reeled. "He must be the king pimp operator of all time!"

"Well, he's slick, but he's not that slick," Ves said. "No way he gets fifty-some women pregnant. Not in only fifteen years. He said he worked in some clinic or something."

"Ves!" Sancha said suddenly, intently. "I just thought - - you remember Helene Gutierrez?" Ves nodded. "She got pregnant last year. Couldn't go to the government health care because she was using. She saw this backroom doctor. Ves, her baby was born nearly brain dead. The little boy can't think, can't act for himself, nothing! Ves, it destroyed Helene - - and he did it!"

"You don't know that," Ves cautioned. "You said she was using. Maybe that screwed up her baby."

"Ves!" Sancha hissed. "I saw her doctor! It was that guy outside your hotel! I remember now!"

Shock froze Ves in her tracks. Then a cold fury washed over her.

"I'm taking this guy down," Ves proclaimed. "I don't care what Hino-sama says."

"Who's 'Hino-sama'?"

"One of the people in the palace who watch us," Ves explained. "She doesn't like me very much. She's been looking for a reason to bounce me out of there. She said leave this to the police."

"The police aren't going to do anything!"

"I know. But I am. This guy's going down. I don't care if Hino-sama does bounce me out of there." Ves turned to go, but Sancha grabbed her arm.

"Ves," Sancha said. "Don't."

"What do you mean?"

"You made it. Don't risk that. Don't give her a chance to throw you into the street again. Let me talk to Martin. He knows some guys."

"What kind of 'guys'?" Ves asked suspiciously.

"The kind of guys you need to take this porco down," Sancha replied with an iron stare. "The kind of guys you turn to when you know the police won't do anything." Ves started to protest, but Sancha stopped her. "Ves, let me do this. Don't risk your new life. I've got less to lose than you do."

Ves hesitated.

"For Helene's sake," Sancha added. "She was my friend, too."

Expelling a tired breath, Ves relented. "OK. But keep me informed. And if you need help, let me know. I can do a few more things than I used to be able to do."

Sancha smiled confidently and nodded. And then she was gone into the teaming afternoon street crowds.

"Yeah, I'm all right, Mom," Ves heard as she peeked into Usa's hotel room. Rei and Hotaru were gone, probably in bed. The Princess was on the vid-com. Ves could see Queen Serenity on the screen. "Yeah, everything's under control. Yes, Mom." Serenity said something Ves couldn't make out. "MOM!"

Usa caught sight of Ves out of the corner of her eye. She saw the girl grinning at her and made a rude gesture, then returned to enduring her mother. Ves ducked back into the hall and entered her room. The girl smirked again at the sight of Usa bickering with her mother. She wondered if the Princess really understood just how lucky she was to have a mother to bicker with. Jun was in her nightie, but still roaming the room.

"Waiting up for me?" Ves asked wryly.

"Just checking to see if we had bail money," Jun shot back. Ves gave her a grin, then glanced at the bedroom.

"How's Palla-Palla doing?"

"Out like a light. She's had a pretty rough time."

"I know," Ves scowled.

"You think Hino-sama is going to let us go after this guy?"

"Think I care?"

"Yes," Jun sighed, "in spite of the way you act. Look, Ves, don't do anything stupid, OK? I know you want to get this guy. I do, too. Guys like him shouldn't be running loose. But the 'mad bull' strategy hasn't ever worked for you, so maybe you need to retire it."

Ves didn't reply, but Jun thought she'd reached her sister. The girl watched Ves go to the bedroom and stand in the doorway. Looking over her shoulder, Jun saw Cere asleep in one bed and Palla-Palla in the other. For the first time in a while, Palla-Palla seemed untroubled.

"Let's go to sleep," Jun whispered, patting Ves on the shoulder.

Unable to muster the energy to resist, Ves headed for the bath for a quick shower. Coming out, dressed in her usual sleeping gear of a sports bra and panties, Ves silently slid in bed next to Palla-Palla, trying not to disturb the girl. But Palla-Palla shifted in her sleep, cuddling up next to her sister while emitting a few low, childish gurgles. The teen's hand snaked up around Ves's neck.

"Pleasant dreams, Stupid," Ves whispered.

* * *

A hand shook Ves-Ves violently. Suddenly dragged from the depths of sleep, the teen's survival instincts took control. She wrenched away from the hand, tossing the sheets in the direction of where the unknown other person was as she rolled over the edge into a defensive crouch. From that position, Ves could either attack or flee at a moment's thought. But the squeal of alarm produced by her actions finally registered and Ves began to realize that she wasn't in any danger.

"WHAT ARE YOU, CRAZY?" Cere-Cere howled. Ves rocked back on her heels. She could see dawn beginning to peek through the windows of the suite.

"You startled me," Ves replied.

"I STARTLED YOU?"

"What do you want?" huffed Ves.

"Do you know where Palla-Palla is?" Cere asked anxiously.

Ves stood up looking around, a sick dread filling her body. "Isn't she here?" The girl pushed past Cere into the outer room.

"No, she's not here!" Cere persisted. "Didn't you know she left? You were sleeping in the same bed with her!"

"I guess you were really out of it last night," Jun said. She was emerging from the kitchenette.

"You don't think that Melo creep has got her again, do you?" Ves exclaimed.

"I don't know what to think," Jun told her. "But that same thought occurred to me, too. I'm going to tell Hino-sama."

"To Hell with Hino-sama! VESTA STAR POWER MAKE UP!" The transformation took hold in moments. "FAUNA ASSIMILATION - - BLOODHOUND!"

The dog raced out the door, her nose pressed to the carpet. Jun glanced over and found Cere had transformed to Sailor Ceres. Ceres shrugged.

"Well, somebody's got to keep her from killing someone!" Ceres said as she left in pursuit of Vesta the bloodhound. "Get the others!"

The first vestiges of the new day were rising blood red in the east. The illumination struck clouds in the sky, highlighting the dark violet of their undercarriages. It would rain today, a not unusual occurrence for Brasilia. The moisture in the air was making the morning muggy. The city of Sao Paulo was quiet. It was a little after six a.m. in Sao Paulo and the only ones up were those headed for work in the service industries, and those ending another nefarious night.

And one other. A teen girl with blue hair, four balls dangling around her like little moons. She was short and though she was developing into a woman, she still carried herself like a little child. Dark slacks and a pastel blouse decorated her body. She maneuvered down the twisting streets and alleys of Sao Paulo, partially from memory and partially from a sense that it was the correct direction to go. She didn't know how, but she knew it was where Maria was. And where Maria was, Abrahan Melo wouldn't be far away.

Her path stopped at the back door of a seedy storefront in a part of Sao Paulo that hadn't benefited from the economic reforms of the government yet. The door was the back door to a shop that sold traditional herbs and liniments, still prized by the poor even in this crystalline age. Unadvertised, for it was illegal, it also held a pediatric clinic in the back room. Women unwilling to go to the public health facilities for various reasons came here for pre-natal care or for illegal abortions in this country still heavy with Catholic traditions. Palla-Palla reached for the sensor to engage the door, but it was locked out. The teen frowned.

"Pallas Star Power Make Up," she said and transformed into Sailor Pallas. Her hand touched the sensor again. "Beautiful Incantation."

Manipulated by her telekinesis, the sensor engaged and the door slid open. Pallas walked in, guided by her telepathic sense. As she walked, she allowed her transformation to fade.

Inside the storefront, in one of the back rooms, she found Abrahan Melo and Maria. Melo was bent over a computer terminal, working feverishly on something. Maria stood vacantly by his side. Palla-Palla stood in the doorway and watched them.

"Palla-Palla?" she felt Maria's mind say to hers. "What are you doing here?"

"It's nice to see you again, Maria," Palla-Palla replied mentally.

Suddenly Melo sensed her presence and whirled. He stared at the teen with a mixture of fear and anger, fear at being caught unaware and anger at his space being invaded.

"What do you want? Why are . . .?" he demanded. Then he recognized her. "You're one of the test subjects!"

"Palla-Palla is your child," the blue-haired teen replied plaintively. "You're Palla-Palla's daddy. Why did you try to hurt Palla-Palla?"

Melo stared at her as if she were speaking in an alien tongue.

"Don't you like Palla-Palla?" she continued. "Palla-Palla thought that mommies and daddies were supposed to love their little babies. Why don't you like Palla-Palla? Why do you hurt people?"

"You're not capable of understanding," Melo scowled. "I discovered a means to revolutionize society - - to reinvent what humanity is capable of. And I was scorned and rejected at every turn! And why? All I did was take the refuse of human society and convert them so they had some use. What did it matter to society as a whole? They were rejects, forgotten and ignored! But somehow I was being cruel to them!"

"Queen Serenity says it's wrong to be mean to people," Palla-Palla said. "But Palla-Palla forgives you, because Queen Serenity says you should - - and because you're her daddy."

"What do I care about your forgiveness?" Melo sneered. "You're a lab experiment to me. Nothing more! The only connection we have is that my chromosomes helped create you, and that was a matter of simple expediency. I am not your 'daddy' and I have no desire to be."

Palla-Palla's eyes widened and her lip protruded. Melo's eyes, however, narrowed ominously.

"But perhaps it was fortuitous that you tracked me down after all," he mused with a growing smile. "Maria - - possess her."

Concluded in Chapter 12


	12. And Lo, I Am An Angel Of Death

LEGACY

Chapter 12: "And Lo I Am An Angel Of Death"

A Neo-Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

"Don't you like Palla-Palla?" she continued. "Palla-Palla thought that mommies and daddies were supposed to love their little babies. Why don't you like Palla-Palla? Why do you hurt people?"

Palla-Palla stood in the back room of the herbal store and clandestine pediatric/abortion clinic. She stared at her biological father, Abrahan Melo. They were eye to eye as he sat at a computer terminal, cooking up some new plan to realize his scheme of harnessing psychics he created and tapping their power. Six year old Maria stood vacantly by the desk.

"You're not capable of understanding," Melo scowled. "I discovered a means to revolutionize society - - to reinvent what humanity is capable of. And I was scorned and rejected at every turn! And why? All I did was take the refuse of human society and convert them so they had some use. What did it matter to society as a whole? They were rejects, forgotten and ignored! But somehow I was being cruel to them!"

"Queen Serenity says it's wrong to be mean to people," Palla-Palla said. "But Palla-Palla forgives you, because Queen Serenity says you should - - and because you're Palla-Palla's daddy."

"What do I care about your forgiveness?" Melo sneered. "You're a lab experiment to me. Nothing more! The only connection we have is that my chromosomes helped create you, and that was a matter of simple expediency. I am not your 'daddy' and I have no desire to be."

Palla-Palla's eyes widened and her lip protruded. Melo's eyes, however, narrowed ominously.

"But perhaps it was fortuitous that you tracked me down after all," he mused with a growing smile. "Maria - - possess her."

"Why?" Melo and Palla-Palla both sensed with their minds, though Maria still didn't move or react.

"What?" gasped Melo in astonishment. "How long have you been capable of conscious thought?"

"Since the other," Maria responded mentally. Again her expression didn't change. "Why do I have to possess Palla-Palla? I like Palla-Palla. She's my sister and she's nice to me."

"You don't have to do it, Maria," Palla-Palla thought to her. By his reaction, Melo seemed to pick up what she said as well. "Queen Serenity and Jun-Jun and everybody says you don't have to do what a grown up says if they tell you to do something bad."

"Maria," Melo said, calmly but firmly. "Your function on this world is to obey me."

"But Palla-Palla says what you want me to do is bad," Maria responded mentally. "Why do you want me to do bad?"

"Maria, obey me," Melo repeated. "I brought you into this world and I can take you out."

"Why am I like this?" Maria asked both him and Palla-Palla telepathically. "Why can't I speak like Palla-Palla does? Why do I hear so many voices? And why can't I remember before yesterday? Are you my daddy, like Palla-Palla said? Help me, Daddy! Help me understand!"

Instead, Abrahan Melo brought a small box out of his pants pocket. It looked like a remote and it had a single button. Without qualms or hesitation, Melo pressed the button.

For the first and last time in her young life, Maria's face showed emotion. Her features contorted in agony. Then she collapsed limply to the floor.

"Maria!" Palla-Palla screamed. "What happened to Maria?"

"I terminated her," Melo responded objectively. "Clearly her mind had been contaminated by some outside force. And thanks to that little incident yesterday, I don't have the time or the facilities for a post-mortem to determine . . ."

"Pallas Star Power Make Up!"

Abrahan Melo stared in amazement as Palla-Palla began to glow white. When the glow died, she wasn't Palla-Palla anymore.

"That uniform!" he gasped. "Those outsiders who attacked my lab yesterday wore uniforms like that!"

"Why did you kill Maria?" Sailor Pallas demanded tearfully. "Why do you have to do bad things? You're Pallas's daddy! Why do you have to be a bad man?"

"That's what we want to know," a male's voice came from the outer room. Pallas and Melo whirled at the sound. Two rough-looking men in their early twenties moved to block the doorway. They were dressed in dark clothes with their jet black hair falling into their eyes. Menace oozed from every inch of them. Violence was clearly their stock in trade.

"What do you want?" Melo demanded, backing to his desk.

"We heard you been a bad boy, Doc," one of the toughs said. He smirked mockingly.

"Heard you been experimenting on the neighborhood women," the other continued. "Heard you were behind that little show in the Government Plaza. Folks from this end work in the building you crushed. They work hard. Folks here don't like what you're doing."

"And now we come here and find you killing a little girl?" the other added. "And what's with the chica in the costume? You a freak on top of everything else?"

"Bottom line, the folks sent us here to tell you they don't like the things you been doing to them," his partner summarized. He produced a cheap laser pistol. "They sent us here to put a stop to you. Because we protect our own."

"NO!" Pallas shouted. She took a position directly in front of Melo, facing the two street thugs.

"Move, chica!" the armed man demanded. Pallas saw his partner draw a laser pistol as well.

"No, you can't hurt him!" Pallas said. "Queen Serenity says that's wrong!"

"He hire you to protect him?" the smirking one asked. "Or is he boning you? Either way, move if you don't want to get hurt!"

"Pallas won't move! Pallas won't let you hurt her Daddy!"

"Daddy? Chica, you know what he's done?"

"Pallas knows. Pallas knows he's a bad man and he has to be punished. But you can't kill him! Killing is bad! Queen Serenity says so and Pallas believes her! Please don't make Pallas punish you, too!"

"What can you do?" sneered the grim assailant. He drew a bead on Abrahan Melo with his weapon.

"Beautiful Incantation!" Sailor Pallas shouted.

An invisible force grasped the top of the grim assailant's laser weapon, crushing it in his hand. The focus crystal inside shattered into powder and the light-generation engine sparked. The man dropped the weapon to avoid being bitten by the sparks. He looked at Pallas with amazement.

His partner brought his weapon's aim from Melo to Pallas in a swift motion. Pallas gestured at it and it crumpled into twisted, sparking metal as well. Threatened, he gave off a feral snarl. It was a startling change from his snickering superiority.

Pallas was about to speak to them, but a movement from Melo caught her attention. In the confusion, Melo had drawn a laser weapon of his own from his desk drawer. He had it pointed at the street thugs. His finger depressed the trigger and a crimson beam lanced across the room, momentarily bathing the room in a low red glow. The grim assailant was struck chest high and to the right. It pierced his collarbone and the man spun to the floor, howling in pain. Melo turned the pistol onto the other assailant, but before he could get off another shot the gun crumpled into a sparking, twisted lump of metal. Angrily he looked at Sailor Pallas.

"No, Daddy," Pallas said tearfully. "Pallas won't let you hurt anymore people. It's not right." She turned to the two street thugs. "Please go. Pallas won't let Daddy hurt you, but she won't let you hurt Daddy, either."

The pair glanced at each other, then scrambled out of the room, one still holding his injured shoulder.

"Look," Melo began anxiously, "you have power. I gave you that power! I can help you refine it! Together . . .!"

"You also made Pallas stupid," Pallas replied. Tears flowed down her cheeks. Betrayal colored her midnight blue eyes. "Why did you do that? Pallas hates being stupid!"

"Part of the brain's capacity and function has to be sacrificed in order to allow the unused portion that PKE abilities reside in the room to grow and flourish," Melo explained, not expecting her to understand. "It's - - an unfortunate sacrifice, but necessary. Pallas, you are the prototype to a new evolutionary step in humanity! But you still need me to guide you to the fulfillment of your true potential!"

"Pallas doesn't want that," the girl squeaked. "Pallas gets all the school she needs in the palace. Pallas wants you to be her daddy and love her."

"I can," he smiled, with a practiced charm that had seduced so many women over the years. "Stay with me. Let me make you into all that you can become - - and you'll realize the love you seek."

"But," Pallas hesitated, because it sounded like everything she wanted, "what about Pallas's sisters?"

"The other test subjects? We can get to them in time. But you come first."

"No, Ves-Ves and Jun-Jun and Cere-Cere. Those are Pallas's sisters. And what about the Princess? Pallas promised to protect her. She can't go back on her promise."

"Pallas," Melo said, grasping her gently by the arms. "Sometimes you have to choose. If you continue to think of others and just others, you'll never get what you want. Sometimes you have to disregard what others want in order to help yourself."

Pallas thought over that statement. Melo could tell he had influenced her thinking, but she hadn't committed just yet. It was probably a lot for her simple mind to digest. Sensing he'd prodded enough, the man sat back and waited for her to give into her desires. And then she'd be his. She wasn't the perfect conduit that Maria had been - - but in some ways she could be better.

Suddenly Pallas turned her back on him.

"No, Daddy," Pallas said softly. "Pallas can't go back on her word."

Melo's expression soured. Another failure - - another mind too ingrained with a sense of self to ever be anything but questioning and rebellious. His hand eased into the desk drawer. It came out with a hand-held neuro-stimulator that he had illegally modified. Like the miniaturized version he'd implanted in Maria's brain, this device delivered an electric shock when pressed to the back of the neck along the spine. With Melo's illicit modifications, the shock was of sufficient strength to overload the neural net of a person and kill instantly. He brought the device up and aimed it for the back of Sailor Pallas's neck. If she wouldn't join him, he wouldn't allow her to oppose him.

At the last moment, though, Pallas turned and faced him. He sensed with the rudimentary telepathy that he possessed that she'd sensed his thoughts. A moment of adrenalin surged through him and Melo lunged with the weapon.

"Beautiful Incantation!" Pallas shouted.

Before the device could connect, it crumpled under the assault of her telekinesis. The electrical storage element inside ruptured and the full charge coursed through Melo's hand and up into his body. Melo shook helplessly, a twisted scream wrenched from his mouth, his reaction of agony looking much the way Maria had reacted. When the charge spent itself, Melo crumpled to the floor, staring lifelessly up at Pallas. His expression was one of intense surprise.

"Pallas is sorry," the senshi whimpered softly, "Daddy."

Turning from her dead father, Pallas walked over to the lifeless body of Maria. She knelt down next to the body and touched it. Maria was cold to the touch.

"Maria?" Pallas whimpered, tears streaming down her cheeks again. Maria didn't respond physically or mentally and quickly Pallas realized the awful truth. "Pallas is sorry she couldn't save you. She really wishes she could have known you longer."

After a time - - Pallas didn't know how long - - she heard footsteps behind her. The senshi turned and found Vesta and Ceres staring at her from the doorway.

"You OK?" Vesta asked. Though Vesta tried to conceal it, a deep, frightened panic bubbled just beneath the senshi's surface.

Wordlessly, Pallas ran across the room and leaped into Vesta's protective arms. She cried bitterly while Vesta held her and Ceres looked over the useless waste of lives littering the room.

* * *

A message came up to the Asteroids' hotel room. Coming down, Ves-Ves scanned the desk and the lobby for the person who sent the message. When she saw Sancha, her dour spirits lifted slightly.

"Hey, Ves," Sancha said, a hopeful mood hiding the anxiety beneath. "Is everything OK with your sisters? I heard some of what happened from the guys Martin knew."

"Palla-Palla's still alive," Ves shrugged, trying as she always did to mute her own anxiety under a cover of indifference. "Didn't exactly go down the way I hoped it would, but at least that dog of a father of hers is dead."

"So he is dead?" Sancha prodded. Ves nodded a response. "A lot of people are going to be happy to hear that. That guy wasn't right. How's your sister taking it?"

"A lot better than I thought she would," Ves admitted. "That's the way she is. The way she's always been. Something bad happens and she bawls like a little baby at first, but as time goes by, she just files it away and acts like normal - - well, normal for her. I don't know if she's too stupid to understand that something really bad has happened," and Ves thought for a moment, a small smile creeping onto her face, "or she's got this - - inner peace that lets her cope with stuff. If she does, I wish she'd teach it to me."

Sancha replied with a smile of recognition. "So - - what's with this sailor suit stuff?" Ves looked at her with guilt, but said nothing. "Those guys said she turned into a sailor girl? And crushed their heaters with her mind?"

"It's a long story, Sancha," Ves replied. "Part of it's what her father did to her. Part of it has to do with that job I told you we have in Japan."

"Oh. And I just thought you were some super-kung fu ninja now." An awkward silence followed. "So, I guess you're all going to be headed back to Japan now, huh?"

"Once we make arrangements for Maria's funeral, yeah," Ves replied. Another awkward silence occurred. Ves suddenly had an epiphany. The mean streets of Sao Paolo no longer held her in their iron grip. She had managed to escape. But Sancha . . .

"Well, take care," Sancha said reluctantly.

"Sancha," Ves said suddenly. "Do you want to come with us?"

"To Japan?"

"I can get you a job in the palace. It's nice there."

"What about Martin? Ves, I think I love him."

"I'll get him a job, too! Come on!"

Sancha looked at her for a moment. Ves could see the pride the girl had in their friendship. It made Ves feel like she'd actually done something important during her time surviving in this urban jungle.

"I appreciate the offer, Vanessa," Sancha said. "But what would I do there? Clean floors? I'm not exactly a college graduate and I don't fight so good. That's your thing. Besides, I can't speak Japanese."

"I'll get you a universal translator unit," Ves argued.

"It's not home. Vanessa, home was never that important to you. But it's important to me. I'm starting something here. I'm finally rid of my father. I'm living with a wonderful man. Maybe we're not as well off as we could be, but we're trying. I want to try here. I want to have half a dozen babies with him and teach them about their heritage and give them something I never had."

"You can do all that in Crystal Tokyo!" Ves protested.

"I can do it better here," Sancha smiled. "You go back to Crystal Tokyo and be great. I want to stay here in Sao Paulo and make my tiny little corner just a little more beautiful."

Ves scowled and Sancha knew from experience that her friend was frustrated. Some things about Vanessa would never change. When her shoulders sagged, Sancha knew that she had surrendered.

"Well, I think you're crazy," huffed Ves. "But if it's what you want." The redhead reached over to the check-in desk and grabbed a portable computer input pad. She scribbled something on it with a stylus, then printed out a memory crystal. "Here," Ves said, handing the crystal to Sancha. "This is how to reach me in Crystal Tokyo. If you need anything - - and I mean ANYTHING - - you contact me, understand?"

"Yes, Vanessa," Sancha smiled.

"And I want to see holographs of your half dozen kids," Ves grinned. "Although, as ugly as you are, you better pray they take after their father."

"You've got no room to talk, muscle girl," Sancha shot back affectionately. "Good-bye, Vanessa."

Ves watched her walk out of the hotel lobby. To her credit, she didn't break anything after Sancha was gone.

* * *

Upstairs in the hotel, Rei was making final arrangements for the funeral and touching base with the palace back in Crystal Tokyo. That gave Usa the time she needed. Silently she ventured into the bedroom and found exactly what she thought she'd find. Hotaru lay on the bed, brooding.

"It's not your fault," Usa told her. Hotaru looked up at her.

"What's not my fault?" Hotaru asked.

"The panic attack. Losing control of your powers like that. Given everything that's happened to you over the years . . ."

"I shouldn't have done it," Hotaru interrupted. "I should have more control - - more courage."

"Nobody blames you. We're all scared of something."

"But I let my fear rule me! Right when everybody needed me the most, I turned into a scared little girl." She turned and faced Usa. "I'm supposed to be a senshi. I'm supposed to guard you. How can I do that if I become a worse threat than whatever I'm supposed to be guarding you from?"

"I haven't asked you to quit, have I?" Usa offered.

"Maybe you should."

"No way. I've seen you face down things scary enough to make me hide under the covers. You don't know how much of a help you are to me, Hotaru, because you never believe just how much you matter to the world."

"But how much of a help can I be if you can't depend on me? I folded under pressure once. How do we know I won't do it again?"

"Well I don't think you will," Usa said with that fervent conviction that always gave Hotaru a chill. "But if you don't think you can deal with this alone, maybe you should talk it over with someone. Aunt Ami is real good with psychology and stuff. And Aunt Rei is a priest and knows a lot of stuff that Aunt Ami doesn't know. And Aunt Makoto may not have a lot to diplomas, but she's really smart about stuff that counts. And Aunt Minako," and Usa stopped. The girl thought for a moment. "Well, she can teach you how to get guys."

Hotaru giggled in spite of herself, and a conspiratory grin sprouted on the face of the Princess. Hotaru looked over and gave her friend a grateful look. Usa extended her hand. Hotaru took it and pulled herself up off the bed.

"Maybe I will talk to Mizuno-sensei," Hotaru murmured. Then she glanced over at her friend again, her gratitude deeper and quite unconcealed. "Thanks for pulling me back, Usa - - again. I'm so much trouble to you."

Usa nudged her with her hip. "It'd be even more trouble without you."

* * *

The Princess and her senshi had been back in Crystal Tokyo one month. In that month, Hotaru had gone to Ami and they'd begun psychoanalysis sessions to help Hotaru try to come to terms with her deep-seeded fear of being confined in darkness. Usa badgered Ami every day for progress reports on how Hotaru was doing. Ami wouldn't tell her anything, citing doctor-patient confidentiality, but she didn't discourage the girl either. After all, worrying about Hotaru kept the Princess from pining for Helios. She still did it, according to her mother - - just not as much.

Ves-Ves spent her time keeping close watch over Palla-Palla. Palla-Palla, for her part, appreciated the attention and even got Ves to play dolls with her once. Though Ves was too taken in by surface details, Jun and Cere could see that Palla-Palla still hurt from her mother's rejection and her father's less-than-sterling character. She tended to cling to Ves just a little more at times, though at other times she could be her normal cheerful self. Those times were usually after one of Palla-Palla's visits with Queen Serenity. Palla-Palla seemed to visit the Queen a little more often now, seeing Serenity almost as a surrogate mother figure. The Queen didn't discourage the relationship, but Palla-Palla's sisters still worried. Jun even went so far as to ask Makoto's advice about what to do. Though Makoto's advice to let time heal the wound didn't satisfy her, Jun figured that the elder senshi knew from experience what she was talking about and followed her direction.

When Cere wasn't occupied with some vain or frivolous pursuit, she could be found in her room. Her room, at her insistence, had a window that overlooked the palace grounds. At just the right angle, one could see part of the Queen's garden. Whenever Jun or Ves entered, they might find Cere sitting at the window, gazing outside on the barren trees of fall, fiddling with a memory crystal. When asked about it, Cere would usually be evasive, saying only that it was personal. What they didn't know was that Cere would play the crystal, always alone and always at the window. When engaged, the crystal would display a holographic picture of Gallan. He had recorded the crystal when they were in Brasilia. Queen Serenity herself had given the crystal to Cere when they returned. She still recalled the surprise she felt when she engaged the crystal and Gallan's image appeared.

"My dear Cere," his recorded voice said that first time she played it. "Please forgive me for any anxiety I may have given you when last we met. Your news was difficult for me to handle, but it was no excuse for the brusk manner in which I spoke with you. I am sorry we can never be more than friends, but it is your wish - - and I care too much for you to not honor your wish. With the aid of good Queen Serenity, I have managed to come to terms with this difficult turn of events.

"I, too, hope that someday we may be friends again. One day, I vow, I will look upon you and not feel the pain I now feel. The failing is entirely my own. I must be strong. Please, my dear Cere, until that day comes, do not seek me out. I will come to you, and I will come to you a better entity for it.

"I wish you good life and good health. I wish all your dreams fulfilled. You are a shining goddess upon the Earth, Cere. Please do not let this mishap diminish you.

"I make only one request of you. Should you find another who is able to capture and keep your heart where I could not, I ask you not to bring him to the palace. It would be a blow from which I do not think I could recover. Forgive me my weakness, my dear Cere. I am trying."

Today was the first day since she'd received the crystal that Cere hadn't played the message. Maybe by spring they could be friends again. Cere certainly hoped so.

It was at that one month mark when Jun looked up from her computer station and noticed Palla-Palla. Palla-Palla also had a computer work station, though it had simpler, voice-activated controls and programming geared to the intelligence level and interests of a five-year-old. What attracted her attention was Palla-Palla's silence. Her sister usually kept quiet like this when she was working on some arts and crafts project, but Jun couldn't recall any such assignment from any of their teachers.

"What are you doing, Palla-Palla?" Jun asked as she peered over the teen's shoulder.

"Palla-Palla is making a 'Get Well Soon' card for her Mommy," the girl answered.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Jun asked, kneeling down next to her. "You do remember that your mom doesn't want anything to do with you, don't you?"

"Palla-Palla knows," she replied somberly.

"I know it hurts," Jun explained. "I just don't want you to get your hopes up and then get crushed again."

"Palla-Palla knows how her mommy feels," she said softly. Then her resolution seemed to grow. "But Palla-Palla wants to do this. Because she really does want her mommy to get all better. And because maybe if her mommy knows that somebody in the world loves her, her mommy will be strong and not get sick again." She glanced at Jun and smiled innocently. "And because when Palla-Palla asked Queen Serenity about it, Queen Serenity said that it'd be a really nice thing to do - - and Palla-Palla wants to be nice to people like Queen Serenity is."

Jun began to feel a glow building inside of her heart. "Well, in that case, I think it's a good idea, too."

Palla-Palla grinned a response.

"That's a nice design," Jun told her. "I think she'll like that."

"Then Palla-Palla will cyber-mail it to her," she nodded. Then the teen clouded over. "Only Palla-Palla can't remember how to do that. Would you help Palla-Palla do that, Jun-Jun? She remembers her mommy's cyber-mail reception coordinates. They're 22.68109.43455.461."

Jun gave her a wide-eyed look for just a second. Then she eased into a warm smile.

"I think I can do that," Jun said. "But before we do, why don't you add an 'xoxo' to your signature."

"What does that mean?" Palla-Palla wondered out loud.

"That's an old style abbreviation for 'hugs and kisses'."

Palla-Palla beamed. "That's just what Palla-Palla wanted to say!"

THE END


End file.
